Documenting life cycle

Luo expressed his commitment to observing and documenting snow leopards. "We humans are still short of direct observations of enigmatic species like snow leopards," Luo said. "Many scientists' research on the animals have relied on indirect methods, such as infrared cameras. By witnessing and recording the complete life cycle of the Drolma family, I think that my efforts will be more meaningful."

He explained that a snow leopard's life cycle lasts 12 to 13 years in its natural habitat. Drolma, believed to have been born in 2015, mated with Dawa, an adult male, producing six offspring across three births. Remarkably, her eldest daughter, Lhamo, gave birth to three cubs in a single litter in June 2023. "I want to answer questions like when Dawa will lose his mating privileges and the maximum number of offspring that Drolma can potentially bear," he said.

After reading part of his field logbook, an editor from a nature magazine recommended it to a publishing house in Beijing, which plans to release it in the next month.

"I think it's not comprehensive," Luo said. "But they considered it sufficient as a periodic compilation of my fieldwork."

chenliang@chinadaily.com.cn