SNOW LEOPARD (Panthera uncia)

Although the Snow Leopard is internationally regarded and legally protected as an endangered species, currently there exist no effective measures to stop poaching and loss of habitat in Jammu & Kashmir. The Snow Leopard population of Jammu & Kashmir has increasingly come under pressure as a result of poaching for furs, loss of habitat caused by deforestation and dam projects, and loss of food sources caused by similar environmental pressures. In both Pakistan and India-administered Jammu & Kashmir, this threat to the Snow Leopard has developed. The armed conflict of the last 8 years in Jammu & Kashmir has further exacerbated this problem as the soldiers and armed resistance groups have shown little regard for species preservation. The instability has also allowed for an illegal trade of furs. A 1994 raid on a group of traders in Srinagar that hauled more than $1 million worth of furs and garments made from 1,366 of the world's most endangered wild cats, tigers, snow and clouded leopards and Bengal tigers indicated that the lack of effective measures to preserve endangered species has

deteriorated further as a result of the 8 year old conflict. Cases like these reveal that the poaching of wildlife in Jammu & Kashmir's forests and in other Himalayan regions has returned with a vengeance that threatens some of the world's most beautiful and exotic animals after a period of curtailment of such poaching in recent decades. Under this situation, the Snow Leopard is directly threatened.

K.E.W.A. advocates that strict conservation measures be put

in place in Pakistan and India-administered Jammu & Kashmir. Habitat protection, captive breeding, stiff penalties for poachers and international buyers of illegal furs, and public education must all be a part of such an undertaking to save the Snow Leopard. But such an effort would require major involvement of international organizations. Facts about the Snow Leopard

An assessment of the threat to the Snow Leopard

"That

rarest and most beautiful of the great cats, the snow leopard...is wary and elusive to a magical degree, and so well

camouflaged in the places it chooses to lie that one can stare straight at it from yards away and fail to see it." Yet the snow leopard's talent for invisibility has not kept it safely out of the sights of hunters, who continue to kill the cat for its "coat of pale misty gray, with black rosettes that are clouded by the depth of the rich fur". Elusiveness also has done little to help the snow leopard cope successfully with an ever-increasing influx of tourists, sheep herders, dam-builders, and other humans eager to make use of the spectacular landscape. The result is that the snow leopard, despite its remote home high in the Himalayas, has become one of the most endangered of the large cats. - Land of the Snow Leopard

More Information on the Snow Leopard:

The International Snow Leopard Trust (ISLT) Dedicated to the conservation of the endangered snow leopard and its mountain ecosystem through a balanced approach that considers the needs of the people and the environment. Since 1981, ISLT has worked on more than 90 projects with local populations throughout Central Asia in small, creative, and visible programs to make on-the-ground and long-lasting conservation happen. Snow Leopard Trust
copyright- K.E.W.A.

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