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Herdsman adopts abandoned snow leopards

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-22 10:02

A herdsman in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is keeping two baby snow leopards as pets.

Zhang Peiwei, a herdsman in Yining county, picked up two cubs he thought were domestic cats on grassland near his village on May 12 and took them home.

The "cats" have since grown quickly and now weigh more than 15 kg each.

Animal experts came to Zhang's home and identified the animals as state-protected snow leopards.

Zhang is currently keeping the cats with financial and technical help from related departments.

The region's forestry authorities are considering training the abandoned pair and sending them back to the wild.