As per the report released by the non-governmental organization this week, snow leopard populations are declining rapidly.
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WWF – SOS Snow leopard. Despite best conservation efforts, the snow leopard may soon go extinct, fears World Wide Fund for Nature or WWF.
Since 2014, warming temperatures and human intrusion have further squeezed the remaining snow leopards into smaller quarters, according to a recent World Wildlife Federation (WWF) report.
“There are gaping holes in our knowledge of snow leopards – from their populations to their mating and feeding behaviour – and their habitats”. If climate change is not addressed, it will aggravate the identified hazards and could further drive the species over the edge.
Fan also appealed for enhanced global cooperation on snow leopards through taking advantage of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.bGao said he had suggested that China support and facilitate “sound, applied and inter-disciplinary research” to study and monitor the status of snow leopards in the country. Experts say warmer temperatures resulting from climate change could impact the species’ habitat by causing the tree line to shift up the mountain, with farmers moving into higher altitudes.
Notoriously elusive, snow leopards are known as the “ghosts of the mountains” and have entered local folklore in places like Kyrgyzstan where they roam.
Conflict with communities in the high mountains of central Asia, who see the leopards as a threat to livestock and human lives, along with poaching, habitat loss and a reduction in numbers of prey have seen numbers of the “ghost of the mountains” fall 20% in 16 years. “Minimizing these concurrent threats will help snow leopards to combat the additional stress posed by climate-induced habitat change”.
This approach assumes greater prominence after the Fragile Connections report revealed that less than 14 per cent of snow leopard habitat has ever been covered by either research or conservation activities.
Snow leopards are native to the mountains of Central and South Asia and it is estimated that there are a few 4,000 to 6,000 left worldwide.
“India, Nepal and Bhutan have proven that it’s possible to increase the number of iconic species like tigers and rhinos”. “Together governments, conservationists and communities can achieve similar successes with snow leopards and drag them back from the brink”.
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Snow leopards are not the only ones at risk as high mountainous areas where the species live stretch over numerous watersheds in the continent. In 2013, the conservation program in Bishkek was able to urge the 12 snow leopard space states to sign up.
