Snow leopards have been repeatedly captured on camera in a forest park in the Western Tianshan Mountains in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The first-class protected species is a barometer for the health of the local high-altitude ecosystem.
From late August last year to early March this year, snow leopards were repeatedly filmed at different times and across different seasons, showing their movement and hunting in the bare rocky landscape at an altitude of about 3,000 meters.
"The sightings of the snow leopards confirm that the ecological environment of the Wusun Mountains forest area has met the survival and habitat requirements of top predators," said Li Hui, a local forest ranger.
A patrol team has been organized in the area to carry out regular patrols and oversee the high-altitude forests. Infrared monitoring cameras have also been deployed in areas where wild animals are frequently observed to track their movements and provide a scientific basis for protecting grain varieties along the Ili River Valley.
Apart from snow leopards, various other species, such as brown bears, red deer, wild boars, Asian badgers and lynxes have also been captured on camera.
Snow leopards repeatedly captured on camera in Xinjiang
Snow leopards repeatedly captured on camera in Xinjiang
The head of the UN's atomic energy agency on Thursday welcomed the signing of an initial Iran-U.S. memorandum aimed at ending the war, before proposing "to sit down" with both parties to assist with concrete measures, including verification of Iran's nuclear program, a critical sticking point.
"We believe the fact that the indispensable role of the IAEA is recognized is a sound point of departure," said Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in reference to the reported text of the memorandum.
"Now it's for us to sit down with our American colleagues, our Iranian colleagues and start formulating the concrete steps that will have to be taken. So, I think it's good that the memorandum is there. Now the technical work starts," he said.
According to media reports, the memorandum of understanding provides for a maximum of 60 days of negotiations to achieve a "final deal" on issues including uranium enrichment by Iran, which must also reaffirm that it does not intend to develop a nuclear weapon.
Other requirements listed in the memorandum include reopening the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping and easing U.S. and UN Security Council sanctions on the Middle East nation. The "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon," also features prominently in the first of 14 points of the memorandum.
Refusing to speculate about the talks, Grossi said "because we are about to start and we have to initiate any negotiation on the assumption that we are all in with faith, that we want to be successful."
Responding to a question about a possible agreed reduction in the level of uranium enrichment by Iran, the IAEA chief noted that "many, many possibilities" could be explored. The agency's access to all of Iran's nuclear facilities is "not at a level and in all the locations it should be", he stressed, but contact with the authorities is ongoing and the agency has "a pretty good idea" of the "specific things, places, that we need to access."
"It's now, I'd say, that the technical work can start for real," said Grossi.
Grossi's remarks came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and U.S. President Donald Trump digitally signed the memorandum of understanding on ending the war, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said early Thursday.
IAEA chief welcomes US-Iran peace memorandum
