Snow leopard appears before tourists in the mountains of Almaty

Tourists encountered a rare snow leopard in the mountains of Almaty. The rare predator unexpectedly appeared before their eyes while chasing a dog that had been accompanying a group of tourists along the mountain trail.

One of the witnesses of the incident managed to capture these moments on video.

According to Almaty resident Oksana Perekupko, a local dog joined their group during the hike. Initially, the animal ran ahead of the tourists. However, during a rest stop, its behavior changed dramatically.

The dog's fur stood on end, and its attention was focused on a single point. Shortly after, it suddenly bolted away. A few seconds later, a snow leopard emerged right behind it.

Worried for the dog, the tourists started shouting. However, the predator did not approach the people. It looked towards the tourists for a few seconds and then disappeared behind a juniper bush.

After a short while, the snow leopard appeared again higher up the trail. The tourists assumed that the predator might have been guarding its prey there.

Following this, the members of the group took the dog with them and descended to a nearby settlement.

The snow leopard is considered a rare predator included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan and is under state protection. It is recorded that there are about 200 individuals of this species in the country.

This rare encounter filmed by the tourists once again showed how unexpected a face-to-face meeting with nature in the mountains can be.