In China, snow leopards live in seven provinces and autonomous regions: Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and Yunnan. They mainly inhabit the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to Gao.
Fan Zhiyong, senior director of the Science, Policy and Innovation Center at WWF China, called for a national survey to be carried out on the animals as soon as possible.
Fan also appealed for enhanced international cooperation on snow leopards through taking advantage of China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Gao said he had suggested that China support and facilitate "sound, applied and inter-disciplinary research" to study and monitor the status of snow leopards in the country.
suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn
Facts
Scientific name: Panthera uncia
Habitat: The highest regions of Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
Status: Endangered
Population: Estimated at between 3,920 and 6,390
Weight: Adult male 45 to 55 kg
Height: Up to 130 cm
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 
