The rare and elusive creatures were photographed in Qinghai province, in central China, using camera traps placed by Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, the Snow Leopard Trust and Shan Shui Conservation Center. China contains about 65 percent of the snow leopard habitat, according to Panthera.

The footage was captured outside Zhaxilawu monastery; the camera trap was placed there because the area had been a hotspot for wildlife, with a wild bear and another snow leopard spotted in the previous weeks. Tibetan monks have also been recruited as snow leopard allies, with monks patrolling the areas where the snow leopards prowl to prevent poaching, according to a 2013 study.

Though it's hard to tell from the video alone, the trio may be siblings, or possibly a mother and her two cubs, scientists from Panthera said. In the video, they roll around, yawn, stretch their feline limbs and nuzzle each other, before pausing to investigate the camera trap.

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are elusive cats that live in the forbidding, mountainous terrain of Asia, from Russia in the west to China in the east. Their white-speckled fur allows them to blend in with their craggy mountainous habitat, while their thick padded feet allow them to tromp silently but sure-footedly in the snow, hunting for prey.

About 4,000 to 7,000 snow leopards remain in the wild, according to Defenders of Wildlife, and the regal felines are listed as a threatened species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Originally published on Live Science.

The snow leopard is either a threatened animal or a threat, depending on whom you ask.

The endangered cats face a shrinking habitat and diminishing numbers of natural prey, meaning that conflicts between humans and snow leopards are on the rise. One of the biggest conundrums: The cats sometimes snatch domestic goats and cows, and in retaliation, they are killed by herders, whose way of life depends on livestock.

A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE today (Feb. 8) attempts to quantify the problem. In the central Himalayas of Nepal, about one-quarter of the snow leopard's diet is livestock, according to the research. The same was true for another rare predator in the region, the Himalayan wolf.

"This information is crucial in a place where livestock, wild prey and carnivores share the same landscape, and carnivores are considered as a threat," said study leader Madhu Chetri, an ecologist at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. "A clear understanding of carnivores' diets is essential for developing effective long-term conservation strategies." [Rare Photos: Snow Leopard Babies in Dens]

Over several months, Chetri and colleagues scoured Nepal's rugged trails, mountain ridges, riverbeds and mountain passes in search of fresh feces from snow leopards and wolves. Their survey area covered nearly 2,000 square miles (5,000 square kilometers), largely in the Annapurna and Manaslu conservation areas.

The researchers were able to identify prey DNA from 182 of the leopard scats and 57 of the wolf scats they collected. While snow leopards mostly preferred to hunt cliff-dwelling wild animals —primarily Himalayan blue sheep and Himalayan tahr — 27 percent of their diet was domestic livestock such as goat, horse and yak. Similarly, the diet of Himalayan wolves was 24 percent livestock, the researchers found.

Previous research has found that snow leopards have a fairly narrow dietary niche. (They tend to like goat-size ungulates.) An analysis of the carnivores'prey selection in the new study found that in regions where the snow leopards' preferred natural prey was unavailable, they mostly turned to comparable domestic animals. Wolves, on the other hand, are more opportunistic predators with more varied diets.

Biologist Tom McCarthy, executive director of conservation group Panthera's snow leopard program, said that previous studies have found similar, or sometimes even higher, rates of livestock predation in the region. But, he added, the new research highlights conservationists' ongoing concern about conflict between the cats and the typically poor herders who live in most of the snow leopard's range. 

"One of the well-known conservation concerns is retribution killing of snow leopards for livestock losses," said McCarthy, who wasn't involved in the study.

Conservationists estimate that just 6,000 snow leopards remain in the wild. Humans kill up to 450 of the cats annually, according to a report released in October 2016 by the wildlife crime-tracking group Traffic. More than half of those cases are retribution killings.

"This is also why so much conservation effort is placed on finding ways to reduce livestock losses in the first place —predator-proof corrals, for instance —or to offset the losses through a variety of economic incentive schemes, and it is working," McCarthy told Live Science.

Chetri said future research will focus on estimating livestock mortality rates and identifying factors that might contribute to livestock loss. "This will bring some new insights in managing conflicts between leopards and wolfs and local communities," Chetri said.

Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Note: This story was updated on Friday, Nov. 6 at 4:15 p.m. E.T.

Scientists have captured new images of a snow leopard being collared in Kyrgyzstan. The move marks the first time that one of these elusive creatures has been collared in the remote Central Asian nation.

The gorgeous, white-coated creature is a female in the prime of her life, between 6 and 7 years old. She was collared in the Sarychat-Ertash Strict Nature Reserve in eastern Kyrgyzstan, near the border with China.

The collaring — which was conducted by Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organization, as well as partner organizations and government agencies — could help researchers understand how the endangered creatures live. [Rare Photos: Snow Leopard Babies in Dens]

"Each and every snow leopard we collar gives us invaluable new insights into the conservation of the entire species as well as the high mountain habitats they need to survive," lead researcher Shannon Kachel, a doctoral candidate in environmental and forest sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said in a statement. "Each collared animal teaches us new lessons about how snow leopards interact with their habitat and prey, with one another, and with us — lessons which ultimately help us protect this beautiful and elusive species and the landscapes that it depends on."

Elusive creatures

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are the shaggy ghosts of the mountains. The camera-shy creatures live throughout the rugged, mountainous reaches of 12 different countries in Asia, yet even many locals who live among these big cats have never seen a trace of them.

The majestic Himalayan creatures are perfectly adapted to their snowy climate. They sport thick fur coats that help them brave the frigid temperatures, and wide paws for padding silently through the snow.

But herders hoping to protect their flocks have often hunted down the big cats. Poachers seeking their warm fur coats and internal organs, which are used as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine, have also set their sights on the majestic beasts. Because the elusive snow beasts are so hard to spot, estimates of the population range from 4,500 to 10,000 adults, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature considers the snow leopard an endangered species.

In recent years, conservationists have stepped up their efforts to learn more about the mountain dwellers by collaring them and tracking their movements; placing camera traps throughout their habitat; estimating the number of their prey, such as blue sheep and Asiatic ibex; and even analyzing the DNA in their poop, according to Panthera. They've also recruited Buddhist monks to help protect the endangered cats

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Editor's Note: This story was updated to remove a reference to a 20 percent decline in snow leopard populations over the last two decades. That estimate was based on a survey done several years ago. However, early data from an assessment currently in progress suggests that the decline has slowed in many places and snow leopard populations have even rebounded in some locations. 

The endangered snow leopard has some allies in unexpected places.

The leopards are being protected by hundreds of Buddhist monasteries on the Tibetan plateau, new research suggests.

The scientists, who detailed their study last week in the journal Conservation Biology, found that half of the monasteries are within the snow leopards' habitat and that monks patrol the wilderness to prevent poachers from killing the rare cats. [Rare Photos: Snow Leopard Babies in Dens]

"Buddhism has as a basic tenet -- the love, respect, and compassion for all living beings," said study co-author George Schaller, a biologist with the endangered cat conservation group Panthera, in a statement. "This report illuminates how science and the spiritual values of Tibetan Buddhism can combine their visions and wisdom to help protect China's natural heritage."

Endangered cats

Between 3,500 and 7,000 snow leopards live high in the mountains of Asia, with about 60 percent living in China. Their thick, warm fur keeps them protected from the wintry chill at high altitudes, and their wide paws help them pad gracefully through the snow.

Poachers kill the cats for their warm fur and internal organs, which are prized in traditional Chinese medicine. And herders may hunt them because the leopards often eat their sheep or goats. As a result, the snow leopard population has dropped by about 20 percent in the last two decades.

Circle of protection

From 2009 to 2011, Schaller and his colleagues surveyed the snow leopard population in the Sanjiangyuan region of China’s Qinghai Province, which is on the Tibetan plateau.

In addition to nearly half o the 336 monasteries residing in leopard habitat, the team found that nine out of 10 were within 3 miles (5 km) of the territory.

Since 2009, several conservation organizations have worked with four monasteries in the region to reduce human-leopard conflicts and to train monks to protect wildlife.

The team found that many Buddhist monks — not just those at the four monasteries they worked with — actively patrolled the areas to prevent the killing of snow leopards; the monks also taught the local people that killing the majestic creatures was wrong.

In household surveys with 144 families, most people said they did not kill wildlife, with many citing Buddhism's nonviolence as their reasoning.

All told, a greater proportion of the snow leopards were being protected in regions around monasteries than in the core nature reserve set aside for the big cats, the study found.

The findings suggest programs that work with Buddhist monasteries to promote snow leopard conservation could be remarkably effective.

About 80 percent of the people within the snow leopards' natural range practice Tibetan Buddhism, so the strategy could conceivably be expanded beyond the current area, the authors wrote in the paper.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google+. Follow LiveScience @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

NEW YORK CITY — Boone Smith's latest project was to track down one of the world's rarest cats in the middle of a war zone. The affable adventurer has been capturing big cats since growing up on a ranch in Idaho, where he learned to chase down mountain lions. Since then, he's become an expert at catching a range of big cat species, to help researchers learn more about the animals and to conserve them.  

This summer, Smith helped catch a couple of extremely rare snow leopards in Afghanistan's Wakhan Province, where a small and extremely endangered population of 100 to 200 of the majestic cats remain. Smith's trek for the elusive beasts is detailed in "Snow Leopard of Afghanistan," a show on Nat Geo WILD that premieres Sunday (Dec. 9) at 8 p.m. ET. It's part of the channel's "Big Cat Week," which features different specials on magnificent species each night.

OurAmazingPlanet sat down with Smith this week while he was in town promoting the show. The following is an edited interview.

OurAmazingPlanet: What was your exact role in the effort to find the snow leopards?

Boone Smith: I'm a capture specialist. Folks hire me, different research groups, to come in and capture animals to put radio collars on. We also trained local people to do this.

We rely a lot on local knowledge. The Wildlife Conservation Society [a major partner of the effort] put together one of the best teams I've worked with. We had a local tracker spend months prior to our arrival documenting scrape marks and droppings. They put in camera traps to find snow leopards.

We had two snow leopards coming through the area once a month. We got our first snare in the ground before dark one night, and six hours later we caught the first snow leopard in Afghanistan.

OAP: How do you know where to set the snares?

BS: That's the hardest part, because they can go anywhere. But big cats are also creatures of habit. So when we get adult residents, primarily males, they will return to the same spot to scratch and spray the ground with urine.

You'll see a scrape pile and dig a pit and disguise our snare in there, so he will fall through. The mechanism throws a loop around his foot and tightens it.

Then we hide it and walk away. And then it's a waiting game. When the transmitter goes off we get there ASAP, and dart him, get him to a safe area, and attach the radio collar. We take every measure you can imagine. We measure pad width so that you can classify the gender from the prints. We measure height, weight, tooth wear — for an age estimate — and we draw blood to test for diseases.

They're down for about an hour and a half. We monitor them to make sure their vitals are okay. After it shows signs of coming out of it, we retreat and watch it from a safe distance, until it goes on its way.

OAP: Do these snares hurt the animals?

BS: These are foot snares and modified for safety. When the animal is on the snare, the snare sends out a signal, and we come quickly. The only wound received — one snow leopard had a small abrasion on his arm, but was fine. We take their safety really seriously.

OAP: How many leopards did you catch?

BS: The film will document two. They've since caught another, a female. There are now three leopards out there creating data. [Rare Photos: Snow Leopard Babies in Dens]

OAP: Is it a safe area of Afghanistan, where you were?

BS: The area we were at hasn't had terrorist activity, although the Taliban killed some folks five hours away of us. Some folks also had just rushed across the border. So the border patrol came to check us out, and that riled us a bit because, of course, they had guns.

That being said, the people there were incredible, caring, humble, loving.

OAP: What have we learned so far from the radio collars?

BS: It's still a work in progress. The collars will be on for 14 months — we put them on in June. We got to see how far they travel, though — farther than we thought.

OAP: How'd you first get interested in tracking big cats?

I grew up as a fourth generation trapper/houndsman. I learned how to track and trap things, like mountain lions.  So that guided my career decisions. Learning the book stuff was good, but knowing how to rope, tie up and handle a mountain lion — you can't really learn that in a book.

OAP: What's your favorite animal to work with?

BS: That's hard to say. Mountain lions, though, I've done a lot of work with them. I've helped catch jaguars, bobcats, black bears, wolverines … even elk and a problem moose. I even caught a mountain lion in my hometown on Main Street that wandered in.

I got a job offer to help catch Bigfoot last week. I'm not taking that job. [laughs] They wanted to know, if it really existed, how would you snare it?

OAP: How would you?

BS: I don't know.

OAP: Have you had any close calls, tracking big cats?

 BS: I don't have any visible scars. One time, though, we chased a female mountain lion up into a tree. She had kittens and was very protective.

My job is to climb up there, rope them and lower them. Sometimes adrenaline rushes can overpower the drug used to sedate them. I touched her foot, and her tail, and she didn't respond. But when I went to put a loop around her, she came alive. I had her by the back foot, and she came around the tree and was taking swipes at me, but she couldn't quite reach. She was only a 100-pound [45 kilograms] female, but I realized she was so powerful she would soon wear me out.

While I was trying to figure out what to do, she did me a favor and chewed through my safety rope and then I scooted down the tree and she followed, and when she returned to climb back up, I looped a rope around her hind paw, and held her until the drug fully kicked in.

The one thing that I remember about her isn't her swiping at me or the danger, but it was her breath. It stunk. It smelled like rotten meat.

OAP: What's the most difficult animal to track or work with?

BS: It's not so much the species but the personality that makes it tough. Some are laid back, other animals are aggressive. Some of the toughest chases are mountain lions. Just awhile ago in Wyoming we spent eight hours chasing one.

OAP: What do you want people to take away from the show?

We want people to know that these animals are endangered, and populations are decreasing. We have a great program called Cause an Uproar, where people can get involved. [In Images: 100 Most Threatened Species]

We have education programs to reduce human-predator conflicts. You can donate to a cause. And hopefully there are some folks that want to become biologists and researchers.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Scientists have outfitted two snow leopards in a wild corner of Afghanistan with satellite-tracking collars, a first for the country and a boon for researchers trying to better understand the habits and favored habitats of the endangered cats.

The snow leopards, both male, were captured in Afghanistan's northeastern Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of desolate, windswept mountains sandwiched between Pakistan and Tajikistan, and a spot where camera traps first snapped the elusive cats in 2011.

The first snow leopard was captured and released on May 27, the second on June 8.

Researchers weighed and measured the animals, took DNA samples and fitted them with satellite collars before sending them on their way.

In the intervening weeks, the first cat has traveled more than 78 miles (125 kilometers) and the second cat has traveled more than 95 miles (153 km), according to a statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society, one of the main participants in the field work.

A film crew from Nat Geo WILD was on hand to document the research, for a film that is slated to air in December.

Snow leopards make their homes in the harsh, rugged mountain regions of 12 Asian nations, yet despite their wide range and impressive survival skills, the spotted cats' numbers are dwindling. The species has declined by as much as 20 percent in the last 16 years, and only 3,000 to 7,500 individuals remain in the wild, according to population estimates.

Officials with the WCS lauded the recent capture and tracking of the Afghan snow leopards as a milestone in the fight to save the big cats.

"The information garnered from the tagging will assist researchers as they learn more about the range, behavior, movements and habitat used by snow leopards," Peter Zahler, WCS's deputy director of Asia Programs, said in a statement.

That information will be shared with the Afghan government and local communities to design protected areas and improve conservation strategies in the country, he said.

The announcement comes on the heels of other encouraging snow leopard news from Mongolia. For the first time ever, researchers uncovered a snow leopard den in that country, and caught a mother and two tiny snow leopard cubs on video.

Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook & Google+. 

The dens of two snow leopard mothers and their cubs have been located in Mongolia for the first time, with new, unprecedented video showing the mothers and their young inside the den, a conservation organization announced yesterday (July 12).

Snow leopard dens are difficult to find because of the animals' secretive, elusive nature and the difficult, mountainous terrain in which they live. Finding the dens is an important step in learning more about the reproductive behavior and the young of this endangered species.

"We have spent years trying to determine when and where snow leopards give birth, the size of their litters, and the chances a cub has of surviving into adulthood," said Tom McCarthy, executive director of the snow leopard program at Panthera, a wild cat conservation organization.

Most of what has been previously known about snow leopards and their young has been gleaned from animals in zoos, where litters typically consist of one to three cubs. How big wild litters are and how the young fair in the wild — where they are subject to predation, disease, poaching and capture for the illegal wildlife trade — was not known.

The dens were discovered in Mongolia's Tost Mountains, where locals refer to the creatures as "Asia's Mountain Ghost."

A team of scientists from Panthera and the Snow Leopard Trust entered the dens when the mothers were away hunting. They found that the first had two cubs and the second, one. All three cubs were weighed, measured and photographed and handled with extreme care, according to a Panthera release. Two were fixed with tiny microchip ID tags (about the size of a grain of rice) that were placed under their skin for future identification.

The use of these tags and observations from the team can help scientists learn how long the cubs stay in their den, when they begin to venture out with mom and how long and often mom leaves to go hunting.

A short video of the female and her cub bedded down in a partially man-made den was recorded from a safe distance by Orjan Johansson, Panthera's snow leopard field scientist and Ph.D. student, using a camera fixed to an extended pole. [Watch the video of the snow leopards.]

Over the ensuing days, the team monitored the mothers' locations to make sure they returned to their dens, which they did.

"Knowledge about the first days and weeks of life is vital to our understanding of how big cat populations work, and how likely it is for a newborn to reach adulthood and contribute to a healthy population. A valid conservation program requires such information, which this new development in snow leopard research provides," Howard Quigley, Panthera's (www.panthera.org) executive director of jaguar and cougar programs, said in the statement.

Only around 4,500 to 7.500 snow leopards are thought to remain in the wild. In recent years, pictures of snow leopards from camera traps have also been taken in other parts of the animal's range, including Bhutan, Siberia, Kashmir and Afghanistan.

This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to LiveScience.

Check up time

Panthera's Snow Leopard Field Scientist O?rjan Johansson and veterinarian Carol Esson (Australia) examine and prepare to weigh a cub.

Home sweet home

A cave with a man-made rock wall ironically doubles as a snow leopard den site.

Back you go

Field Scientist Mattia Colombo (Italy) carefully prepares to place a cub back into its den.

Hope for the future

A picture of hope for the next generation of snow leopards in Mongolia's South Gobi.

Shelter found

A narrow cleft in a rock wall served as these cub's den.

Getting curious

Gaining mobility, the cubs examine a side entrance.

Still images from camera traps set up near the India-Pakistan border revealed the presence of rare snow leopards in the region earlier this year and have now been stitched together into a new video that shows the leopards eating, as well as other species that roam the area.

The camera traps were set up by the conservation group WWF-India in 2010 in Kashmir, just a few miles from the line of control separating the Indian province from Pakistan. In February of this year, the cameras revealed the presence of at least two snow leopards. They were only the second photographic evidence ever captured indicating snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are now living in the region.

The photo captures yielded more than 500 photographs of the two animals. These photos have now been put together in a sort of flip-book-like video that shows one of the leopards prowling and eating a recent kill.

After the snow leopard is gone, other predators and scavengers, such as the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), come in to feast on the leftovers. Feral and domestic dogs also make an appearance in the video, gnawing on the carcass of the kill.

Wildlife in the contentious area suffered during years of armed conflict, but the relative peace of recent years has helped species recover, WWF-India said in the video.

The IUCN, an independent international body that assesses the status of species around the globe, has listed snow leopards as endangered since at least 1986. The big cats, known for their cloudy gray fur and dark spots, are native to Central Asia's high mountains, and their numbers have been decreasing.

Reliable numbers are difficult to establish, but it is estimated that between 4,000 and 6,500 snow leopards are left in the wild.

Recently, camera traps have also spotted snow leopards in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Siberia and Tajikistan, where the notoriously shy creatures stole one of the cameras spying on them.

This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to LiveScience.

A Chameleon on My Fingernail?

The tiniest chameleon, frozen delights and incredible lava flows these are just the beginning. Check out our choices for this week's Best Earth Images.

Frozen Canals in Venice

Known for mild winters, the European region has experienced a brutal winter season so far. Cold air pouring into Europe has created heavy snow in Rome, and pictured here, Venice's frozen canals.

[Full Story: Take A Look: A Venice Canal...Frozen]

Wild Valentines

What do you give to the wild animal in your life?

Rats and cow blood? Maybe a fish-scented treat?

To celebrate their beloved residents, zoos shared some very creative treats this Valentine's Day. Pictured about this Aldabra tortoise enjoys a combination of beets, carrots and sweet potatoes mixed with gelatin.

[Full Story: Wild Valentines: Zoo Animals Enjoy Sweet (and Kinda Gross) Treats]

A Southern Glow

This astronaut's photograph captures the southeastern United States at night. The image includes Atlanta, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida which are the brightest two spots.

[Full Story: The Southern U.S. at Night: A Network of Light]

Snow Leopards

New footage from camera traps in Bhutan's newest reserve caught snow leopard activities including scent-marking and hunting. These rare cats are very elusive which makes the photographs very valuable.

[Full Story: New Survey Snaps Amazing Images of Snow Leopards, Prey]

Frozen River in Budapest

A ship moves down the ice choked Danube River in Budapest, Hungary, on Feb. 9, 2012.

[More Photos: Fascinating Images of the Frozen Danube River]

ISS Eyeful

This astronaut's photograph show the aurora borealis over the Pacific Northwest in January. This is the start of a pilot project documenting the stunning sight from below and above.

[Full Story: Astronauts Snap Stunning Light Display From Space]

Mystery Solved

A mysterious circle of stones in the Chilcotin Range in British Columbia caught the eye of a group of researchers. The circle, visible on Google Earth, is apparently a feature left by deglaciation.

[Full Story: Mystery of Huge Stone Circle Solved]

Extraordinary Mount Enta

The volcano's New Southeast Crater cone sprayed a lava flow early this month. The lava flow stopped about 2 miles (3 kilometers) shy of the crater.

[Full Story: Stunning Image: Etna's Newest Lava Flow]

Tiny, I Mean Tiny!

This tiny critter hides up in the branches to sleep at night a mere 4 inches off the ground. The adults of the species are only 1 inch long when fully developed.

[Full Story: World's Tiniest Chameleon Discovered]

Snow leopards are one of the most elusive cats on Earth. Not only is the species endangered, but it is notoriously shy, and much about where snow leopards live in the wild remains mysterious.

So researchers got a big surprise when a set of 11 camera traps installed in a lonely corner of Tajikistan revealed at least five snow leopards were living in the region, including a mother with two young cubs.

The motion-sensing camera traps were set high in the remote Pamir Mountains.

Over the three-month study period, the cameras snapped pictures of a parade of creatures — mountain ibex, Marco Polo sheep (the largest in the world), a rare mountain weasel, a variety of birds and the family of snow leopards. [See photos of the snow leopards and other animals here.]

"This is the first detailed biodiversity survey of the area, and it's very exciting to see so much diversity," lead scientist David Mallon said in a statement. "But the highlight was confirming the presence of what seems to be a healthy population of breeding snow leopards."

Yet when scientists returned to retrieve their camera traps, they found only 10. One had gone missing.

A close look through the piles of pictures revealed the culprits: the two snow leopard cubs.

A companion camera trap to the stolen rig caught the two young leopards red-pawed.

The IUCN, an independent international body that assesses the status of species around the globe, has listed snow leopards as endangered since at least 1986. The big cats, known for their cloudy gray fur and dark spots, are native to Central Asia's high mountains, and their numbers have been decreasing.

Hard numbers are difficult to establish, but it is estimated that between 4,000 and 6,500 snow leopards are left in the wild.  

Despite the fact that researchers found only five cats, they were encouraged by the results of the survey, which was conducted by British-based Fauna & Flora International with the help of U.S.-based big cat conservation organization, Panthera.

Snow leopards require large swaths of land, and researchers said the region offers a good place to concentrate conservation efforts.

"These survey results demonstrate that there is hope still for the endangered snow leopard," Panthera's Tom McCarthy said in a statement.

The fate of the stolen camera is unknown.

• Camera Trapped: Wonderful and Weird Wildlife Around the World
• Gallery: Elusive Wildlife Caught in Photos
• World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals

Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanet and on Facebook.

Scarce Cat

A snow leopard, one of the most elusive big cats on Earth, and also an endangered species, triggers a camera trap set up high in an isolated mountain range in Tajikistan.

The camera traps caught a parade of interesting wildlife on film.

Snow Leopard

It is estimated that only 4,000 to 6,500 snow leopards are left in the wild.

Mountain Weasel

A rare mountain weasel, also called an Altai weasel, peeks at the camera. The mammals prefer high altitudes, and the largest grow to about 11 inches (28 centimeters) in length.

Ibex

An adult male ibex stands in the dizzy heights of Tajikistan's Pamir Mountains.

Tibetan Snowcock

An altitude-loving species that is a relation of the pheasant.

Snow Leopard

Researchers discovered five snow leopards living in this remote region, including a mother and two young cubs.

Photographing snow leopards with remote cameras in Afghanistan is hard enough, but snapping a picture of a mother and cub is nearly impossible.

Which is why a team of conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) was delighted to take this recent image from a craggy peak in Afghanistan’s Sarkund Valley. This is the first image of a mother and cub taken since WCS began work in the region. WCS has been conserving wildlife and improving local livelihoods in Afghanistan since 2006 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Motion-sensor-equipped cameras have taken the first images of the elusive and threatened snow leopard in a remote mountain range in Siberia.

The photos were taken between Oct. 26 and 30 at an altitude of about 13,100 feet (4,000 meters) on the Chikhachyova Ridge in the Altai Republic, a semiautonomous region in southern Russia.

"To get a picture is really a big deal," said James Gibbs, a conservation biologist who had found signs of the snow leopard there this past summer. "The signs that the species is in this region are definitive but a picture is irrefutable."

Gibbs, who is with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, N.Y., said the animals are probably part of a larger population that extends into Mongolia.

Ten cameras had been installed in the area after Gibbs and some colleagues found evidence of the leopard's presence during an expedition. The researchers had made the trip primarily to survey the population of Argali sheep, the world’s largest wild sheep species, which is threatened by hunters and habitat loss. But at the same time, the researchers searched for evidence of snow leopards.

"Snow leopards leave clear signs that you see readily if you look for them," Gibbs said in a statement. "You can find scat and places where they scratch trees with their claws. And you see their scrapes, circular depressions made in the gravel that are slightly discolored. They maintain these scent marks. If you see fresh ones, you know snow leopards are in the area."

The snow leopard population is threatened by poachers, who hunt the animals for their distinctive spotted coats.

In addition to the snow leopards, the cameras caught images of a rarely seen Pallas cat, also called a manul, a thick-furred feline about the size of a domestic cat.

The expedition that installed the cameras was sponsored jointly by the nonprofit conservation group Arkhar NGO and the Altaisky State Biosphere Reserve. The conservation group Panthera provided a grant to purchase the cameras.

Thanks to the vigilant eye of camera traps stationed high in Afghanistan's remote northeast mountains, researchers have uncovered exciting news: A population of endangered snow leopards, one of the most elusive big cats on the planet, is thriving in the region.

The big cats live among the dramatic peaks of the desolate Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of land 220 miles (354 kilometers) long, and sandwiched between Tajikistan to the north, Pakistan to the south, and a tiny border with China to the east.

Camera traps captured shots of the spotted cats at 16 different locations across the region, the first time the technology has been used in Afghanistan to document the rare animals.

"This is a wonderful discovery; it shows that there is real hope for snow leopards in Afghanistan," said Peter Zahler, deputy director for Asia Programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, in a statement.

Although snow leopards once roamed many of Central Asia's mountain regions, the species has suffered declines as high as 20 percent in the last 16 years. Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society, the organization that conducted the camera trap studies, say a mere 4,500 to 7,500 snow leopards still wander in the wild.

"Now our goal is to ensure that these magnificent animals have a secure future as a key part of Afghanistan's natural heritage," Zahler said.

A Wildlife Conservation Society study examining the plight of snow leopards in Afghanistan — the species is threatened by poaching, the illegal pet trade and run-ins with angry shepherds who don't appreciate the cats eating their charges — was published in the June 29 issue of the Journal of Environmental Studies.

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