The rare and secretive snow leopard is one of the few beasts that has captured the human imagination. According to the red list of threatened species, fewer than 7,000 Panthera uncia are expected to persist over Asia's high mountains. A fifth of them dwells in Tajikistan's Pamir mountains, the world's third-highest environment after the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges. The leopards appear to be prospering here, despite the odds.
Revenue brought in by westerners hunting markhor, ibex and wild sheep is being used to conserve the elusive big cat and provide income for villages in the mountainous region