Saving the snow leopard

Some people care

Living in the steep and rocky alpine regions of Central Asia, the snow leopard is recognisable by its long tail and almost-white coat, spotted with large black rosettes

Animals have been living on this planet since before humans. In a way we can say that this is their home and we humans have destroyed their home – and some are still destroying their homes. Over the course of time, we have failed to realise the fact that how much damage we humans have caused to them. Some animals have tasted nasty extinction and are no longer living on this planet. One animal that may or may not face extinction is the snow leopard.

It is a large cat which resides in the mountain regions of Central and South Asia. In 2003 IUCN listed this animal as endangered in their Red List of Endangered Species. In 2003, it was reported that an estimate of 4,080–6,590 adult beasts are left.

Living in the steep and rocky alpine regions of Central Asia, the snow leopard is recognisable by its long tail and almost-white coat, spotted with large black rosettes. There are up to 6,000 snow leopards in the wild, but numbers are gradually declining, with hunting and habitat loss just some of the reasons that it is endangered. Snow leopard numbers have declined by at least 20pc over the past 20 years.

This animal has a few special qualities. Their fur-covered feet act as snow shoes, they can’t roar, they can jump up-to nine feet, they hunt animals three times their size. This may come as a surprise to you that this animal helps in maintaining the population of its preys. An animal with these amazing qualities is under the threat of extinction.

Majority of them have inhabited China. Their population in China is said to be in-between 2,000–2,500. And in Pakistan, their population is estimated to be in-between 200-450.

They inhibit the northern areas of Pakistan, such as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, mountain ranges of Hindu-Kush, Karakoram, Himalaya and Pamir across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One of the special qualities these ranges have is that they have this beast; in a way we can say that this beast is an iconic symbol of these mountain ranges. This is one of the most elusive and rarely seen cats, in the wild.

They are killed by local farmers in retaliation for they kill their livestock, they are hunted for their own rarity and their skin is used as a luxury.

Dr Ali Nawaz, Pakistan’s foremost expert on the snow leopard, was able to established SLF (Snow Leopard Fund) in 2005 due to his interaction with the International Snow Leopard Trust. This man is trying to preserve the snow leopard in Pakistan.

Dr Ali has been working with the rural communities of the northern areas of Pakistan such as Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. He brought NGOs, the locals and government workers to work together to form a plan to preserve the habitat of the snow leopard. He observed that the death of livestock was due to diseases in those areas. He introduced a new and improved vaccination and veterinary services in the rural areas and encouraged them tolerate snow leopard attack on their livestock. This plan proved so successful that within a year up-to 50 percent of the animals had been saved (livestock and wild animals). This was done, if a snow leopard attacks a livestock, it would not die due to a disease infected livestock. This project also helped improve the coral; where the locals keep their livestock. These corals were only three feet tall; a snow leopard can easily jump in as I’ve stated above that they can jump up to nine feet. In panic it can hurt not one but numerous herbivores; whereas, in the wild it would’ve only taken one prey.

Dr Ali decided to support the locals with financially so that they improve their corals. The corals have been covered with mesh to prevent the snow leopards to enter.

This project will not help the snow leopards but will also help the locals. Due to the help of this project, livestock and the snow leopard can survive.

The snow leopards habitat range continues to decline and increased use of grazing space. Farmers should be given a specific territory in which they should keep their livestock.

The money from the Whitely Award, which is about 35,000 pounds, will be invested in the global plan to preserve the snow leopard. This program is called Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). Three landscapes have been chosen to be a part of this project; Pamir-Karakoram, Hindu Kush in north east Chitral and Himalayan part of Neelum Valley, Astore and Deosai.

Another important component will be providing a proper landscape for the snow leopard. Dr Ali wants to invest in big chunks of area instead of smaller areas like the Chitral Gol National Park. He also stated that one snow leopard needs approximately 1600 km² of territory, while Chitral Gol covers only 25 km².

If we manage to save this animal, we can attract a lot of tourist to our country.

Another way to save this animal is by adopting an animal. Adopting this animal may cause some problems. Dr Ali said, “Once you take a wild animal out of nature as an infant, you cannot return it”. According to him, snow leopards develop their muscles and strength while learning how to hunt from their mothers. These developments take place in the wild, while the animal is still young, so a leopard that grows up in captivity develops very differently. Nevertheless, by adopting this animal, it can still be saved, this is still better than extinction.

Yes, with all that being said, it is safe to say that snow leopard is a keystone species of Central Asia.

This animal has the utmost right to live and over the course of time, we have destroyed its habitat, killed it for its rarity without realising that this animal is quite special and there only a few of them in the entire world.