Snow leopards are an endangered species. In Kyrgyzstan poaching has decimated the population in the last 30 years - from 1,400 to an estimated 300. A German nature conservancy group, NABU, runs a sanctuary for snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan.

NABU and the Kyrgyz government train wildlife wardens to patrol the mountains and high plateaus. They track down poachers and seek to put them out of business, and they bring injured or helpless leopards to their spacious sanctuary, where they are looked after and can live in peace and safety. The Kyrgyz call the beautiful cats the "spirits of the mountains”.

More from this edition of Global 3000: http://www.dw.de/global-3000-the-globalization-program-2014-09-15/e-17864757-9798