Counting of snow leopards has begun for the first time in Mustang in a bid to ascertain the snow leopard population. 

The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), Mustang has launched a survey of snow leopard through camera trapping at four local levels since Saturday. 

Though ACAP and other concerned organizations had conducted camera trappings by finding possible habitats of snow leopards, it was not sufficient to know the actual population.  

Chief of ACAP Lomanthang, Umesh Poudel, said the process of 161 camera trapping grids was determined in every five km distance in both Lower and Upper Mustang. 

Recently, snow leopards are coming down hills in search of food during the winter season. So, Biocos Nepal and ACAP installed 111 cameras at six more places in the Baragaon Mukti area and Gharapjhong rural municipality a few days back for counting the number of leopards. 

ACAP Lomanthnag has divided human resources in three blocks for camera trapping and more than one dozen persons have been deputed in the field for this purpose. 

ACAP technicians and local human resources would provide support, Poudel mentioned. 

The cameras would remain fixed in the fields for a maximum six months for this purpose.