In Nepal, a rare snow leopard has been discovered at an altitude of only around 150 meters above sea level - far away from the usual habitat of the shy big cat.
They were very surprised to find the animal in the sparsely populated Urlabari in the east of the country, while it normally travels in the Himalayas at over 3,500 meters, a local forestry official told the dpa news agency.
After locals injured the animal with bamboo sticks while trying to catch it, it is now being cared for by the forestry authority.
It is then expected to be released into the wild.
It is unclear why the leopard was traveling at such a low altitude.
Snow leopards are also called the “spirit of the mountains” because they are rarely seen.
According to the environmental foundation WWF, there are still around 4,200 to 6,400 snow leopards that live in freedom in the high mountains of Central Asia and the Himalayas.
Their habitat is spread across twelve countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
They are classified as “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Climate crisis increases the potential for conflict
Conflicts with humans, among other things, are fatal to the animals: pasture areas sometimes overlap with the snow leopards' hunting areas.
Attacks on livestock are the result, whereupon shepherds often kill the big cats (read more about this here).
In addition, the climate crisis increases the potential for conflict, said the head of the nature reserve in Nepal's Annapurna region, Rabin Chaudhary.
Snow leopards live above the tree line - the area where trees can form closed forests due to various factors.
As global warming occurs, it is moving further and further towards the summit.
According to the WWF, the habitat for the animals is shrinking significantly.
The snow leopards sometimes move into populated areas - and thus come closer to people and farm animals, as Chaudhary says.
bam/dpa