Ice Age: The Unfortunate Decline of Snow Leopard
The snow leopard is a magnificent creature — with a thick white coat, beautiful black spots, and majestic limbs. But like the Royal Bengal tiger, snow leopard populations have been waning over the last few decades more rapidly than ever before. The animal was officially identified as a vulnerable species in 2017. Analysts haven’t figured out the exact number of snow leopards in the world today because they inhabit remote regions that are challenging for humans to traverse. Statistics show that there are roughly 2710 to 3386 of these beautiful creatures populating the earth today. Yet with the state of the twenty-first century, the snow leopard is under threat of extinction due to various causes.
Poaching
One of the most grotesque and horrifying causes of the waning of the snow leopard population is rapid poaching. People often hunt these animals to procure their fur, teeth, bones, and paws. Medicinal values are attached to their body parts. Given that hunting is illegal, their dead carcasses are stored and preserved to be sold on the black market for millions of dollars. Despite government regulations, poachers secretly enter conservation zones and habitats to hunt these animals down for profit.
Shifts in Habitat
The rapid decline of cold temperatures due to global warming is a major threat to the snow leopard population. As carbon emissions increase, greenhouse gases have begun to rapidly erode the health of glaciers. This translates to a gradual rise in global temperatures. Destabilized by their habitats, these species struggle to survive in climates they are not accustomed to. As places flood, and ecosystems fall apart, animals gradually see a decrease in their populations.
Vengeful Killing
Snow leopards are wild animals who feed on other prey. Often, when human populations settle around these species, leopards enter the territory of farmers and feed on their livestock. Jolted by the losses suffered, a lot of these owners choose to brutally kill leopards for revenge — retaliating against the killing of their own animals. This kind of mindless brutality continues to exist despite regulations in place.
Loss of Prey
But why do these snow leopards feel the need to enter these human spaces anyway? Well, with the loss of habitats and the further encroachment of wild places by human settlements forces these animals to look for food. As developmental activities increase, there is a decline in animal populations. Owing to climate change, other animals have also suffered a loss in their numbers. This means that not only do leopards have to struggle to adjust to new climates, but they also often have to go hungry due to the instability of ecosystems.
Sources:
https://www.treehugger.com/are-snow-leopards-endangered-5072563