On September 5, 2022, an snow leopard mistakenly entered the Four Prince Banner of Inner Mongolia. Local experts organized rescue. After the rescue, it was confirmed that the snow leopard had normal physiological indicators, were healthy and met the conditions for wild release. So on the evening of September 22, it was released in Harawubeigou of the Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve ( Inner Mongolia Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve is located in the territory of Alxa Zuo Banner with an area of 1.0156 million mu, which is a national forest and wildlife type nature reserve ).
The snow leopard discovered this time is the third time that snow leopards were found in the Helan Mountain area in 50 years. Before that, there were two images of snow leopards appearing.
was the first recorded in September 2020. When researchers were studying the Helan Mountain ecosystem, they set up an infrared camera and accidentally took a blurred image of a snow leopard. This is the first time that snow leopards have been found in Helan Mountain in nearly 50 years. Due to blurry images and fewer shots, researchers were unable to confirm whether the snow leopard was lost or was passing here.
The second time it was discovered was in March 2021. This time, a minor snow leopard was photographed. In September of that year, it was worn on a satellite collar for protective tracking. Since then, the moving images of the snow leopard have been photographed dozens of times in Helan Mountain. It is strong and has a good living condition, which means that it has adapted to the wild environment of Helan Mountain well.
Where did this underage snow leopard come from? It is unknown, but it is clear that it cannot migrate from Qilian Mountains from a distance. It should have migrated from nearby, or there is a small-scale snow leopard population in Dutch mountains.
The snow leopard that was discovered for the third time was an adult snow leopard. It was sturdy and had clear images. It had thick white fluff on its abdomen, black circle spots on its body, and its tail was long and fluffy. It walked in the cypress forest and habitually lowered its body, which seemed very alert.
The good news that snow leopards were discovered one after another made people excited, and they were also wondering why snow leopards returned to Helan Mountain decades later? As a beast on the top of the food chain, can snow leopards find enough food here? With this doubt, let’s explore the ecological diversity of Helan Mountain in depth.
There are also Wula Mountain and Daqingshan near Helan Mountain. To the north is Langshan (Xiyin Mountain), and then to the north to Mongolia border, there is an Halaxy forest protection area. These large scattered saxophon forest reserves are the migration "ports" for wildlife in northern Asia. From here, you can reach the easternmost end of the habitat of the snow leopards in Mongolia. At present, animals such as North Goat , Lynx and wolf have been found here.
Snow leopard is not the only carnivore in the area. In addition to snow leopards, there are many small and medium-sized carnivores. With the recovery of the natural environment, human interference with wild animals has gradually decreased. Many wild animals have appeared again, and small and medium-sized carnivores have been discovered repeatedly. At present, image data of the appearance of animals such as leopard cat , red fox , badger , and badger have been taken.
This is an oleet cat photographed in Helan Mountain. Its body hair is light gray. Compared with the leopard cats in the southern region, the northern leopard cats are larger. The main prey of leopard cats is rodents such as mice and rabbits, which play an important role in controlling rat damage and maintaining fragile ecological balance.
Red fox is also one of the common animals. In Helan Mountains, red foxes appear the most frequently and are the most common species. They are quick to move and agile, and use small herbivores or pheasants as food.
This is a badger photo taken in Helan Mountain, commonly known as pigs or snails. The footprints are similar to those of wild boars. They are more common in the northwest and usually appear at night and are rarely seen.
This is the Eurasian lynx found in Helan Mountain. It has obvious floral stripes. The lynx adapts to the Helan Mountain environment earlier and has a large number. It is also one of the species at the top of the food chain. The main food of lynx is small and medium-sized herbivores, which overlaps with the recipes of snow leopards, but snow leopards can also hunt larger prey, so the existence of lynx cannot pose a threat to snow leopards.
In addition to lynx, wolves are one of the most numerous carnivorous animals in the Helan Mountains. Wolves have strong adaptability and can reproduce quickly when there is sufficient prey. The wolf mountain north of Helan Mountain is named after the wolf. In the past long period of time, the number of wolves has dropped sharply and even disappeared for a while. However, with the improvement of Helan Mountain and its surrounding environment, the wolf pack has returned first and has a gratifying rise. In the picture, a female wolf can be seen moving in the mountains with three cubs, which means at least one wolf pack exists here.
The emergence of large carnivores such as wolves and lynxes means that there is relatively sufficient food and a relatively complete food chain system. This also means that snow leopards also have a certain survival basis in the area. As a larger carnivore, which herbivores in the Helan Mountain area can be preyed by snow leopards?
Holland , also known as the northern goat, has dark body hair. There are a pair of huge horns on the head, they have strong defense ability, and are good at rock climbing. When they meet wolves and other beasts, they will climb up steep cliffs collectively and walk between the cliffs like flat ground. This is also a survival skill for them to avoid natural enemies.
The roe deer photographed in the Helan Mountain area, the male roe deer has a pair of smaller horns and is smaller in size. Roe deer is more curious and has poor premonition of danger, but is good at disguising. If you encounter dangers, you will find hidden places to hide on the spot.
local stone chicken , which is a kind of Pheasianaceae birds living in the mountains. It reproduces fast and is one of the main foods for red foxes, leopard cats, etc. Stone chicken is an omnivorous bird that can effectively control the reproduction of insects such as locusts and .
This is the Gobi argali, which is also one of the food sources for predators such as snow leopards. Male argali is brave and aggressive, with sharp horns. Even wolves will not prey easily. Female argali is good at rock climbing and can climb cliffs to avoid natural enemies.
In addition to these herbivores, 27 elk and 6 Platz wild horse were also placed in Daqingshan National Nature Reserve . These herbivores will also enrich the local ecosystem's diversity , which will help improve the food chain of the ecosystem. The increase in the number of large herbivores in
The survival of large carnivores such as snowy leopards, leopards is beneficial.
On October 2, researchers found that the newly discovered snow leopard was full of energy. They crossed the main peak of Helan Mountain overnight and entered the Helan Mountain area in Ningxia. They walked more than 20 kilometers at night, "toured" the Helankou rock paintings in the dark, and found two rock sheep wreckage that it had preyed.
The discovery of snow leopards shows that the ecological environment of Helan Mountain has been greatly improved. With the recovery of the natural environment, more wild animals will live in harmony with humans in the future
