A young snow leopard, lacking part of its tail—first recorded by a camera trap of the Sailugemsky National Park on the Sailugem Ridge—has now been spotted on the South Chuysky Ridge.

Scientists are drawing conclusions: the rare felines use mountain ridges as a kind of corridor, including moving across borders. Snow leopards migrate from the Mongolian part of the Sailugem Ridge to the Russian part of the Sailugem Ridge, onto the South Chuysky Ridge, and beyond.

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This snow leopard is about four years old. It has a distinctive feature—half of its tail is missing. Such an anomaly is extremely rare in snow leopards, and scientists have no doubt that this is the same individual. Its movement confirms the specialists' conclusions about the routes used by snow leopards in Altai. This discovery was made as part of a project of the Interregional Association 'Irbis', implemented with the support of the Presidential Nature Foundation,

said Daria Petrova, Director of the "Irbis" Association.

The animal’s age is precisely known: the cub with this noticeable characteristic was first 'caught' by an automatic camera on the Sailugem Ridge. It is the offspring of a female named Chaganka, who inhabits the Sailugem Ridge and gave birth to two cubs that year. Whether this is a congenital anomaly or the result of an injury is impossible to determine.

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Based on its appearance and behaviour, we conclude that the young snow leopard is well-fed, active, playful, and often marks its new territory—leaving its tracks. This means there is enough food for it here; perhaps it will settle in this territory and likely participate in the rut this year. Later checks of the camera traps on the Sailugem Ridge will tell us if it returns to 'its home' ridge. It is possible its brother or sister has also settled nearby, as the territories of young individuals often overlap,

explained Denis Malikov, Director of the Sailugemsky National Park.

Snow leopards are solitary creatures, occupying individual territories whose boundaries they usually maintain for life. At the age of 1.5−2 years, cubs separate from the female and seek out their own territories, which may have prompted the migration of this cub to the neighbouring ridge.

Today, the individual territory of this young snow leopard is 405 sq. km, but according to data from Sailugemsky National Park staff, the territory of snow leopards in Altai can reach up to 2,000 sq. km.
Scientists continue to analyse data and monitor the snow leopard. The "Irbis" Association and the Sailugemsky National Park propose announcing a competition for the best name for this distinctive young snow leopard.