Financial Tribune- An image of a Persian leopard has been captured by camera traps in Shaskouh Protected Area in South Khorasan Province.

�That is the second time a Persian leopard has been spotted in the area in recent months," Parviz Aramanesh, the head of the provincial office of the Department of Environment, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

It is still unclear if it was the same leopard as the one whose image was snapped months ago, but either way the presence of the endangered animal in Shaskouh is a good sign.

There has been a rise in reports of Persian leopard sightings since January, with at least two spotted in Semnan and one in Hormozgan Province. Since there are no new figures on the population of the animal, it is too early to tell if their numbers have increased or the DOE has become better at reporting sightings.

The number of Persian leopard deaths in the year ending Dec. 20, 2016, declined by 62% compared with the corresponding period of a year before.