Baglung, May 8 -- The Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve has launched its first-ever census of snow leopards, marking the first formal effort to estimate the population of the species in the high-altitude region.

Snow leopards are known to inhabit the reserve's upper Himalayan terrain, but authorities said no systematic count had been conducted until now.

A technical team has been deployed, and camera traps have been installed along potential movement routes of the species, according to reserve information officer and ranger Sagar Subedi.

"The main habitat of snow leopards is around the snowline," Subedi said. "We have installed cameras in six blocks of Dhorpatan, ranging from 3,200 metres to 5,000 metres above sea level."

A total of 56 sensor...