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Ex-poachers have become the surprise best friends of the Snow Leopard in Russia's Altaï mountains.

Once hunted for their meat and fur, now locals are tracking these majestic creatures down for photos instead.

In 2014 a conservation programme was set up by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to protect the remaining big cats in the region.

The project convinced 6 local poachers to give up hunting and take pictures of the animals rather than kill them.

For each picture of a snow leopard captured with a photo-trap, an automatic camera, they would receive a payment.

"I am really happy I have this job which allows me to spend all this time outside and to admire all the animals that I manage to photograph with cameras like this one," says Mergen Markov.

"They're so beautiful in the photographs."

With very few jobs and no such thing as unemployment benefits, many people in the 1990s turned to poaching to help feed their families in this wild landscape.

They would kill wild animals for their meat, but would also sell their fur for extra money.

In less than two decades most of the snow leopards of the Altaï had either been killed or had escaped to more remote areas where they couldn't be found.

Money from the project, which also receives private sponsorship, is also used to fund and equip a group of volunteers who patrol and monitor this vast area of wilderness.

Now, more than 4 years since the start of the programme to conserve these animals, it's hoped their numbers are starting to recover. Only time will tell.