KATHMANDU: The rare snow leopard which was rescued from Urlabari Municipality in the Tarai belt was made public in Kathmandu on Friday.

The snow leopard is kept at the Central Zoo.

At a news conference, the Department of the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and National Trust for Nature Conservation and the Central Zoo revealed the status of the wild cat.

Senior Ecologist at the Department, Shyam Kumar Shah, said presence of the snow leopard in the habitat site of Royal Bengal Tiger is a matter of research for the conservationists.

On the occasion, the conservationists said spotting the snow leopard at an altitude of 146 meters above the sea level was an unusual incident.

Snow leopards inhabit in the mountainous region from Kanchanjangha in the east to Api Nampa in the west of the country.

The male snow leopard was found hiding in a bamboo thicket at Charghare, Urlabari on Tuesday.

The conservation officials and stakeholders had rescued the wild animal and brought it to the Central Zoo on Wednesday.

The snow leopard limps on its front right limb and no wounds were seen in its exterior body parts.

The experts have said that a research bid has been initiated to study how the leopard reached the site in Tarai.