Some Cautionary Good News for Snow Leopards
Nature conversationalists and big cat enthusiasts can relish a breath of relief, as the conservation status for our lovely spotted felines has gone from endangered to vulnerable. These elusive but beautiful big cats had been on the endangered list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1972.
Although these animals are no longer on the most endangered rung of the conservation list, it took 45 years for the snow leopard to take its first step away from extinction. Snow leopards are still at risk, and being at the “vulnerable” status means there are fewer than 10,000 breeding leopards left.
The Snow Leopard Trust, which aims to protect the snow leopard through community-based conservation projects, strongly opposes the change in conservation status, concerned that it could have serious consequences for the species.
Whether the change in status is good news or not, snow leopards are still at risk. Some conservation efforts, aimed at protecting farmers’ livestock, can pose harm to the lovely predators. Although it’s rarely reported, some farmers kill snow leopards in retaliation for hunting their livestock.
Poaching, infrastructure construction, and climate change also pose tremendous threats to the snow leopard population. On top of being poached for its fur or killed in retaliation, a snow leopard’s main prey, wild sheep and goats, are at risk of illegal and unsustainable hunting, and if their population declines, so does that of the snow leopard.
While there may only be cautionary optimism at best, it’s still important to remember that our conservation efforts are far from over. The snow leopard still needs our help, and luckily, there are a few things you CAN do.
The first, and easiest thing to do is to spread the word about our endangered/vulnerable kitties. The better thing you can do is to directly donate to organizations such as the Snow Leopard Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, Nature Conservancy, and Sierra Club.
Snow leopards are beautiful big cats, and one of my personal favorite animals. They deserve to live, and the silver lining is that we still have a fighting chance to keep them alive and their population growing.
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