Afghan authorities which captured a rare snow leopard in the country’s mountainous north-east are preparing to release it back into the wild after it reportedly killed dozens of livestock animals, a conservation group said on Sunday.

The endangered animal was caught on Thursday night after becoming trapped in a livestock enclosure in the rural Zebak district of Badakhshan province, savaging about 30 animals, the district’s deputy governor Abdulrahman Kasra told AFP.

The juvenile leopard was transported to Faizabad, the province’s capital and was being held at the governor’s compound, he added.

The head of the Wildlife Conservation Society office in Badakhshan said a vet had treated a minor leg injury to the leopard and that it would be released back into the wild.

“The authorities have promised us they will release the leopard back to the Zebak district soon,” Khorosh Sahel told AFP.

The mountainous north-east of Afghanistan is one of the few habitats of the elusive leopards, dubbed the “ghosts of the mountains”.

They are listed as “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with numbers decreasing as a result of climate change impacts, habitat loss and poaching.

Experts warn that warmer temperatures can push tree lines higher and prompt farmers to move further up mountains to plant crops and graze livestock, encroaching on snow leopard territory.

Badakhshan suffered a similar incident last year, when 40 livestock animals were reportedly killed by a snow leopard.

The farmer whose animals were killed on Thursday said he had sought support from the government after losing his only source of income.

“The animals were the only asset I had to support my family”” Ganji Baig said.

Other Zebak residents told AFP they wanted authorities to follow through with the plan to release the leopard.

“I hope the Islamic Emirate will do its utmost to protect wildlife in Badakhshan so its natural heritage will be protected and the snow leopard will not disappear from the province,” resident Mir Saeed told AFP.