A new study documents a healthy population of snow leopards in Afghanistan. The research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Studies, reports that researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) were able to identify 30 snow leopards in 16 different locations in the Wakhan Corridor in northeastern part of the country bordering China.
WCS plans to next estimate the total snow leopard population size in Wakhan. The global snow leopard population has dropped 20 percent in less than two decades. Scientists estimate there are some 4,500 to 7,500 snow leopards left in the wild.
There are numerous agencies working to conserve the snow leopard and its threatened mountain ecosystems. These include the Snow Leopard Trust, the Snow Leopard Conservancy, the Snow Leopard Network, and the Panthera Corporation. These groups and numerous national governments from the snow leopard’s range, non-profits and donors from around the world came together in 2008 at the 10th International Snow Leopard Conference in Beijing.
Their focus on research, community programs in snow leopard regions and education programs are aimed at understanding the cat's needs as well as the needs of the villagers and herder communities affecting snow leopards' lives and habitat.
If you would like to know more about conservation efforts or want to get involved, please check the Snow Leopard Trust to see the vital work being done in these remote corners of our earth.
Source: Mongabay, Snow Leopard Trust.
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