Snow leopard. [Photo: thepaper.cn]

More than 100 snow leopards are estimated to be living in mountainous areas of Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The estimate is based on studies of about 10,000 photos taken by infrared cameras, from which experts have identified 30 snow leopards.

Starting in 2014, cameras were deployed over a 100-kilometer area south of Urumqi.

Snow leopards are an endangered species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

They live in the Himalayas of central and south Asia at an altitude of 2,500 to 4,500 meters.

In China, they have been spotted in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan provinces, as well as Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.