Spot the thief! Moment (big) cat burglars stole a hidden camera



They had hidden cameras in a remote area of Tajikstan in the hope of catching the elusive snow leopard on film.

So when scientists collected the devices three months later they were overjoyed to discover images of five of the animals living in one valley, including a family with two cubs.



They were also completely baffled. Despite the experiment taking part in a remote and inaccessible nature reserve, one of the cameras had gone missing.

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Spot the thief: The Zorkul survey scientists placed 11 automatic cameras high up in the Wakhan mountain range of Tajikistan, but as shown here, the mischievous cubs spotted a camera and took it away to investigate

Lost: When the team returned after three months to retrieve the cameras, they were bemused to discover one camera was missing and didn't realise a snow leopard had clawed it down

Caught red-handed: When the images were uploaded the culprit was caught - the camera showed the cheeky cubs carrying it off

I can see you: The mischievous cubs had spotted the hidden camera and decided to take it away to investigate The hunt for the culprits, however, did not last long. When the team uploaded images from the remaining cameras, two cheeky snow leopard cubs were caught in the act.

The shy nature of snow leopards makes conserving the species even more

problematic, as it is not easy to estimate population numbers, or to identify critical habitat

areas for protection.

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Snow leopards can be identified individually by their unique spot pattern, and cameras are often placed in pairs to photograph both sides of these big cats.

Family: Over the survey period, the camera traps photographed five separate snow leopards living in one valley system, including a family with two cubs

Endangered: Numbers of the snow leopards are thought to have declined by at least 20% in the last 16 years, largely due to habitat loss and poaching

Fauna & Flora International organised the survey and with the support of Panthera, the world’s leading wild cat conservation organisation, the Zorkul survey scientists placed 11 automatic cameras at seven locations high up in the Wakhan mountain range of Tajikistan.



Numbers of the snow leopards are thought to have declined by at least 20 per cent in the last 16 years, largely due to habitat loss and poaching.

Another threat is the fall in prey, caused by livestock damage to fragile mountain grasslands.



As natural prey numbers fall, snow leopards are forced to feed on livestock as an alternative, and are killed in retribution.

As well as these photos, the cameras also picked up many other high-mountain creatures, such as mountain Ibex, Marco Polo sheep (the world’s largest wild sheep species), and a rare mountain weasel.



Panthera’s Snow Leopard Programme Executive Director, Dr Tom McCarthy, said:



'Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains provide a critical corridor that links snow leopards living to the

north and south of this region, and that helps to ensure the genetic diversity of the species.

These survey results demonstrate that there is hope still for the endangered snow leopard.'