URUMQI, March 11 -- Images of the rare snow leopard have been captured in the Tianshan Mountains in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, researchers said on Wednesday.

The images of three snow leopards were captured by infrared cameras installed in the western and central Tianshan Mountains, according to researchers with the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It is the first sighting of the rare animal in the area in ten years.

The pictures were taken within a 1,000-km range. Two snow leopards were spotted near a water source and another was seen at an altitude of 1,680 meters.

Snow leopards, one of China's Class A protected animals, are usually found in the Himalayan ranges of central and south Asia at altitudes between 3,000 and 5,500 meters.

A total of 50 cameras sponsored by Snow Leopard Network were set up in the area at the end of last year in an initiative to protect the species.

According to researchers, the pictures indicate an increase in the number of snow leopards within the area as well as a balanced ecosystem.