Herders on the frontline in protecting snow leopard

XINING - Herders in the Sanjiangyuan area in northwest China's Qinghai province have always resented the snow leopard which lives in the region, but a new pilot insurance program could mitigate the situation and help with the protection of the animal.

Sanjiangyuan, the source of China's major rivers, is a major habitat for the snow leopard, a Class-A protected animal in the country. Its population in the area is estimated to exceed 1,000.

But while the growing population of the snow leopard gives environmentalists something to cheer about, local yak herders do not share the same sentiment. In 2015, for every household in a village in the area, an average of 4.6 yaks were killed by wild animals including snow leopards. The biggest loss suffered was 23 yaks.