Ulan bator: Mongolian police have arrested several men involved in the poaching of an endangered snow leopard, the Ecological Police Department announced. The suspects were apprehended on Tuesday while attempting to sell the skin of a snow leopard in the capital city of Ulan Bator, as stated in a department release.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the case is currently under investigation. Recent amendments to the Animal Protection Law and the Criminal Code of Mongolia specify that illegal hunting of the snow leopard, which is listed in the Red Book of Mongolia as a rare animal, is punishable by fines up to 44 million tugrik (12,246 U.S. dollars) or imprisonment for a period ranging from two to eight years.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Mongolia reports that the country hosts the world's second-largest population of snow leopards, after China. Approximately 1,000 adult snow leopards are estimated to inhabit Mongolia, spanning an area of about 328,900 square kilometers across the Altai, Sayan, and Khangai mountain ranges.