Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

In the Sayans, not far from the well-known mountain pass, an expedition started studying the habitat of the rarest and most mysterious large cat in the world - snow leopard. Before the start, expedition members gave some new, unique photos of  the irbis to the Russian Geographic Society. The snow leopard, or irbis, is the only permanent resident of the high mountain zone among the large cats. It personifies the majestic, mysterious and brutal world of Central Asia mountain ranges. Russia is the possessor of the northernmost population grouping of  this practically unstudied species, which inhabits the mountain ranges  of South Siberia, Altai, Sayans and Tuva. The irbis population her, according to various evaluations, numbers about 70-150 individuals. Three to five individuals live in various districts, more rarely nine to twelve. The habitat of snow leopard in Russia comprises 2% of the contemporary range of the whole world, and the irbis population is also about 2% of the world total snow leopard population.