A herder's lens brings elusive snow leopards closer to the world

XINING — Perched on a craggy outcrop overlooking a vast canyon in Northwest China's Qinghai province, Sangdrup raises his camera and scans the rugged cliffs for signs of wildlife.

White-lipped deer, blue-eared pheasants and blue sheep occasionally emerge from the forests flanking the gorge, offering subjects for his lens. The autumn air carries the scent of grass and trees as the Lancang River rushes through the canyon below.

The 32-year-old Tibetan is among a growing number of herders in Sanjiangyuan National Park who have taken up photography, as well as the roles of wildlife photographers, grassroots guardians and caretakers of injured animals.

Established five years ago as part of China's first batch of national parks, Sanjiangyuan is the largest and highest. Covering 190,700 square kilometers in the heart of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it guards the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers at an average elevation of more than 4,700 meters.

During his daily patrols, Sangdrup has made a habit of photographing wildflowers and animals, documenting his rounds while creating a precious record for future generations.

Yet one animal remains at the top of his wish list: the snow leopard, often called the "king of the snow mountains".

Born and raised on the grasslands, Sangdrup first heard about snow leopards from his family as a child. "All I knew was that they were beautiful and mysterious, like a big cat, but none of my pals around had ever seen one," he recalls.

His first encounter came in 2018. While patrolling at dawn, he saw a grayish-white animal dart across the slope in front of him. He immediately recognized it as a snow leopard. Frozen with surprise, he fumbled for his phone and pressed the shutter.

"I felt nothing but sheer awe," he recalls. "I was so thrilled that I forgot there could be danger."

When he examined the blurry image on his small screen, excitement gave way to regret. His phone's limited resolution had cost him the chance to capture a rare close-up.

Soon afterward, he spent a substantial sum on his first professional camera. Initially, he knew little about photography techniques. With few people around him familiar with the craft, he had to learn through trial and error.

"I was afraid of breaking the camera by messing with the settings, so I basically stuck to auto mode," he says. "But I just loved taking pictures."

Every time he went on patrol, he carried his camera, taking pictures until the battery ran out before heading home.

As he gained experience, his photographs improved. White-lipped deer, leopards, vultures, golden eagles and blue sheep began appearing regularly in his shots, but snow leopards remained his chief pursuit.

To improve his chances of photographing them, Sangdrup has learned to read their habits. "Blue sheep are their main prey. Where you see a large herd, a snow leopard won't be far away," he says, adding that January through May is the best period for spotting them.

In Sanjiangyuan National Park, 20,800 herders have been hired as rangers. Together with professional rescue teams, they have found and helped rescue many wild animals in need, including two snow leopard cubs that were deemed unsuitable for release into the wild. They have now become public favorites at the Xining Wildlife Zoo in Xining, the provincial capital, drawing tens of millions of views online.

In China, snow leopards receive the highest level of national wildlife protection. The species is classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

China is home to about 60 percent of the world's snow leopard habitats. The Sanjiangyuan area is one of the areas with the highest snow leopard density in the country and the world.

According to survey results released in early 2025, the average snow leopard population density in the Sanjiangyuan area is about 0.9 individuals per 100 sq km, with an estimated total population of around 1,002.

The herder photographers' images are no longer private keepsakes. In 2023, a documentary film Snow Leopards and Friends, partly filmed by three local herders, won the Best Documentary award at the 36th China Golden Rooster Awards, one of the country's top film awards.

For 35 days, the filmmaking team camped near a den, capturing rare close-up footage of a mother snow leopard nursing her cubs without disturbing them.

"We wanted the world to see the snow leopard in its most natural state," says Konchok Choephel, one of the filmmakers.

China established its first five national parks in 2021: Sanjiangyuan National Park, Giant Panda National Park, Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and Wuyishan National Park.

Over the past five years, a range of measures, including habitat restoration, ecological corridor connectivity and tighter regulation of human activities, has delivered notable conservation gains across the five parks.

Known as "the water tower of China", Sanjiangyuan National Park has significantly enhanced its water conservation capacity, channeling an average of 80 billion cubic meters of water downstream annually. Degraded grasslands have turned green, rivers run clearer, and populations of Tibetan antelopes, also under China's first-class national protection, have rebounded from less than 20,000 to over 70,000.

To mark the fifth anniversary of China's national parks, a photography exhibition was held in Qinghai earlier this month, featuring 100 images by ecological photographers and rangers. The photographs captured snowcapped peaks, rare wildlife and the coexistence of herders and nature across the province.

"We hope these images help more people understand the achievements of national park construction and encourage wider participation in protecting our shared home," says an official from the provincial forestry and grassland bureau.

XINHUA