A snow leopard escaped after attacking the farmer's sheepfold in Pingliang Kongtong District, Daqin Town, Gansu province.

From the CCTV footage captured near Ms. Sun’s sheepfold, the snow leopard was seen slowly approaching the sheep, attacking a lamb and arriving at the farmer’s yard with the dead lamb between its teeth.

Ms. Sun and her husband heard the noises from the sheepfold and turned on the lights at the yard only to find the 2m-long snow leopard staring at them. The couple was terrified and too scared to do anything. After a while, the snow leopard dropped the lamb and escaped after leaping over the 2.5m-high yard wall.

According to the couple, the dead lamb was about 70 centimeters long and weighed at least 5kg. Paw prints and scratches left by leopards can be clearly seen on the ground near the sheepfold and on the concrete wall of the courtyard. Outside the sheepfold, in the middle of the yard, there was blood from the dead lamb.

Bao Xinkang, a teacher at the College of Life Sciences of Lanzhou University, examined the surveillance footage and identified the animal as a snow leopard, which is an endangered species. It is a rare large cat carnivore that often lives near the snow line and between snow areas.

According to Bao, snow leopards may have spread from the eastern end of the Qilian mountains to the northern part of Jingyuan and then to the northern part of the Liupan mountains. The habitat of the species has expanded significantly in recent years. New sightings have even been reported in Inner Mongolia and southern Gansu in the past years.

This is the first time for a snow leopard to be spotted in the upper reaches of Jinghe river on the Loess plateau.

The video was filmed on May 28 and provided by local media with permission.

近日，甘肃平凉崆峒区大秦乡，有村民反映，发现有豹子一样的动物夜袭羊圈。羊圈女主人孙芳介绍，当天凌晨1时许，院里彩钢房顶发出响动，圈里绵羊焦躁不安，叫个不停。他和丈夫秦大中隔玻璃看到一只像豹子的生物，总体长超过2米，嘴里叼着垂死的羊羔，眼睛发着幽幽的绿光，全身布满花斑。夫妻俩当时被吓坏了，双腿发抖。“豹子”在与他们短暂对视后，迅速窜上2.50米高的院墙逃走。
据秦大中夫妇介绍，被咬死的羊羔体长约70厘米，体重约有十几斤。在羊圈附近的土地上、水泥院墙上，还可以清楚地看到豹子留下的爪印和抓痕。在羊圈外、院子中间，还留着被咬死羊羔的血迹。
为防止再次发生类似事件，确保辖区群众生命财产安全，民警拉响警笛对周边村社进行巡逻，驱离野生动物，并第一时间在大秦乡治安工作群内发布了提醒，告知各村群众做好安全防范。
经兰州大学生命科学院教师包新康查看监控画面鉴定，该动物为国家1级保护动物雪豹，属于世界级濒危物种，已被列入动物保护白皮书，是一种稀有的大型猫科食肉动物，常在雪线附近和雪地间活动。据包新康分析，雪豹可能是从祁连山东端，经过靖远北部，再到六盘山北部扩散过来的。雪豹近些年栖息地范围的扩张比较明显，近一两年先后在内蒙古四子王旗、甘肃南部的碌曲、莲花山有新发现的报道。有“雪山之王”之称的雪豹，首次在黄土高原泾河上游区域出现，令人惊讶。
（视频由甘肃台提供）