A leopard has been caught on camera in snow leopard territory, high on the Tibetan plateau, for the first time in a discovery that has alarmed conservationists trying to save the latter.

There are fears that, as the climate warms, leopards will increasingly compete with their endangered cousins.

Snow leopards are classed as endangered after losing at least 20 per cent of their population in just 16 years due to habitat loss, poaching and a lack of prey to eat, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month

The global population is estimated at between 4,080 and 6,590.

Leopards are “widely distributed” in Africa and Asia, according to the IUCN, but are themselves classed as “vulnerable” with evidence of dramatic reductions in their populations because of persecution, hunting, loss of habitat and other largely human-caused factors.

They normally inhabit forests, while snow leopards tend to be found above the tree line.

Byron Weckworth, China programme director at conservation group Panthera, told BBC News that the latter were losing territory as the temperatures rise.

“In a changing climate, we expect the tree line to move up the slopes and that's encroaching into the snow leopard's habitat,” he said.

“The bigger threat is the snow leopards' habitat loss and its fragmentation.”

The ordinary leopard was caught on a camera trap in China’s Qinghai province in July last year, when the same camera also filmed a snow leopard.

It is unclear how the two species will interact. Some local people believe the two types of cat have mated, but Mr Weckworth said it was unlikely they would be able to produce any offspring because they are too far apart genetically.

Shape Created with Sketch. Animals in decline Show all 8 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Animals in decline 1/8 Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) Where: Orkney Islands. What: Between 2001-2006, numbers in Orkney declined by 40 per cent. Why: epidemics of the phocine distemper virus are thought to have caused major declines, but the killing of seals in the Moray Firth to protect salmon farms may have an impact. Alamy 2/8 African lion (Panthera leo) Where: Ghana. What: In Ghana’s Mole National Park, lion numbers have declined by more than 90 per cent in 40 years. Why: local conflicts are thought to have contributed to the slaughter of lions and are a worrying example of the status of the animal in Western and Central Africa. 3/8 Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Where: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica. What: Numbers are down in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It declined by 95 per cent between 1989-2002 in Costa Rica. Why: mainly due to them being caught as bycatch, but they’ve also been affected by local developments. Alamy 4/8 Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) Where: South Atlantic. What: A rapid decline. One population, from Bird Island, South Georgia, declined by 50 per cent between 1972-2010, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Why: being caught in various commercial longline fisheries. Alamy 5/8 Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) Where: Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. What: fall in populations has been dramatic. In the early 1990s numbers were over a million, but are now estimated to be around 50,000. Why: the break up of the former USSR led to uncontrolled hunting. Increased rural poverty means the species is hunted for its meat 6/8 Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) Where: found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. Why: at risk from overfishing and as a target in recreational fishing. A significant number of swordfish are also caught by illegal driftnet fisheries in the Mediterranean 7/8 Argali Sheep (Ovis mammon) Where: Central and Southern Asian mountains,usually at 3,000-5,000 metres altitude. Why: domesticated herds of sheep competing for grazing grounds. Over-hunting and poaching. 8/8 Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) Where: the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and to the Tuamoto Islands (Polynesia), north to the Ryukyu Islands (south-west Japan), and south to New Caledonia. Why: Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and trading of the species 1/8 Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) Where: Orkney Islands. What: Between 2001-2006, numbers in Orkney declined by 40 per cent. Why: epidemics of the phocine distemper virus are thought to have caused major declines, but the killing of seals in the Moray Firth to protect salmon farms may have an impact. Alamy 2/8 African lion (Panthera leo) Where: Ghana. What: In Ghana’s Mole National Park, lion numbers have declined by more than 90 per cent in 40 years. Why: local conflicts are thought to have contributed to the slaughter of lions and are a worrying example of the status of the animal in Western and Central Africa. 3/8 Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Where: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica. What: Numbers are down in both the Atlantic and Pacific. It declined by 95 per cent between 1989-2002 in Costa Rica. Why: mainly due to them being caught as bycatch, but they’ve also been affected by local developments. Alamy 4/8 Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) Where: South Atlantic. What: A rapid decline. One population, from Bird Island, South Georgia, declined by 50 per cent between 1972-2010, according to the British Antarctic Survey. Why: being caught in various commercial longline fisheries. Alamy 5/8 Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica) Where: Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. What: fall in populations has been dramatic. In the early 1990s numbers were over a million, but are now estimated to be around 50,000. Why: the break up of the former USSR led to uncontrolled hunting. Increased rural poverty means the species is hunted for its meat 6/8 Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) Where: found worldwide in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. Why: at risk from overfishing and as a target in recreational fishing. A significant number of swordfish are also caught by illegal driftnet fisheries in the Mediterranean 7/8 Argali Sheep (Ovis mammon) Where: Central and Southern Asian mountains,usually at 3,000-5,000 metres altitude. Why: domesticated herds of sheep competing for grazing grounds. Over-hunting and poaching. 8/8 Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) Where: the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and to the Tuamoto Islands (Polynesia), north to the Ryukyu Islands (south-west Japan), and south to New Caledonia. Why: Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing and trading of the species

Koustubh Sharma, an expert with the Snow Leopard Trust, said: “How are these two cat species already managing to live together — or will the interface be difficult when their habitats are changing with climate change?"

“The pictures from our camera trap make these questions more relevant and pressing.”

The situation echoes the increasing interactions between grizzly and polar bears as temperatures warm in North America.

They are capable of mating and produce a hybrid known as a grolar or pizzly, which geneticists said would hasten the demise of the world's largest land predator. Polar bears genes are expected to be gradually lost from the gene pool as the two animals mate, with hybrids becoming more and more like grizzlies over time.