NEWSLINK: National Zoo and Aquarium's last remaining snow leopard Sheva has died

For 16 years Canberra was home to two of the world's most secretive big cats. But last month Sheva the snow leopard, who arrived at Canberra's National Zoo and Aquarium in 2002, passed away aged 19.

After arriving from Mogo Zoo, Sheva and her brother Bhutan quickly became crowd favourites with the zoo's visitors, despite being notoriously tricky to spot. Snow leopards are listed as vulnerable with about 6000 left in the wild, but that number could be as low 3900, Ms Ness advised. Their elusive nature makes them difficult to study. There are about 10 left in captivity in Australia.

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