Snow leopard spotted near human dwelling in S Kazakhstan

SHYMKENT. KAZINFORM - Early morning the big cat crossed the gravel road hastily, not far from the checkpoint, and dispersed in the rugged mountains. Nurken Zhenisov, the guard, hurried to take a snapshot of the creature. To see irbis as close as that is a unique chance.

It was in South Kazakhstan region, at Nautsai gorge which is 55 km from Shymkent, the regional center.

"After praying, Namaz Nurken went outside to check out the territory and spotted the snow leopard and made a picture of the animal before it disappeared," Deputy Director of the Security Service of Altyn Dan resort where the big cat came for a visit, said.

Snow leopards live in remote and out-of-reach areas, and it is still a riddle what brought the animal so close to the human dwelling.

In Kazakhstan, there are over 130 species of snow leopard. The protection effort united 12 countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Mongolia, China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan). However, their population is still in danger of extinction. Snow leopard is in the Red List of all the countries where it lives.