Some of the world's most endangered big cats may be making a comeback, as two of the more elusive species, living in remote areas, have been spotted recently, leading some to believe that their numbers may be better than previously suspected.
First we have this story courtesy of the Adventure Journal, which brings news that researchers have discovered a population of snow leopards that is alive and well in a very mountainous region of Afghanistan. The cats were captured by camera traps that were set throughout the area and wired to automatically snap a picture of anything that wanders by. This particular population was an unexpected find, and bodes well for the species, which is thought to number somewhere between 4500 and 7500 cats across all of Central Asia.
A similar story comes our way from TreeHugger as well, but in this instance the cats in question are the even more rare Armor Leopards, found in rugged forests in Russia's far eastern wildernesses. These cats are on the "critically endangered" list and it was believed that fewer than 50 of them still existed in the wild. A new survey, that once again uses camera traps, caught 12 unique individual leopards on camera however, which lends hope for that species making a comeback as well. Check out video footage of these extremely rare and beautiful creatures below. (Big thanks to Outside Online for this story!)
Both stories are good news for animal conservationists. While far from out of danger, it is good to know that both cat species are doing better than expected. Perhaps they can each be brought back to healthy, thriving numbers once again.