Reintroduced snow leopard raises cub for full year in Ningxia

A reintroduced female snow leopard has been recently captured on an infrared camera with her cub in the Helan Mountains, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, marking a breakthrough for snow leopard conservation.

The mother formed a stable pair with a male, gave birth in spring 2025, and raised the cub for a full year. "This is the first complete success of its kind globally and provides an important scientific paradigm for snow leopard rewilding and population restoration in historical habitats," said Shi Kun, a professor at Beijing Forestry University's School of Ecology and Nature Conservation.

The snow leopard is a first-class nationally protected wildlife species in China. The Helan Mountains, an important geographical boundary and an ecological shield in Northwest China, are one of the country's major habitats and distribution areas for the species.

Since 2020, eight snow leopards have been relocated to the area from several provinces and regions, including Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xizang, and Xinjiang. Monitoring has been conducted via satellite tracking and infrared cameras.