The Snow Leopard

September 7, 2003 2:43 PM

The Snow Leopard is a magnificent animal (and the cubs are adorable,) but also a very endangered one. A recent study by TRAFFIC, Fading Footprints: The Killing and Trade of Snow Leopards (PDF), describes the threat faced by the species, including in Afghanistan. The International Snow Leopard Trust has released the Snow Leopard Survival Strategy (PDF) to try to aid the species.
posted by homunculus (2 comments total)

George Schaller, the legendary biologist, wrote "The Stones of Silence" during his trek through the Himalayas. During Schaller's trek, Peter Mathiesson tagged along and wrote "The Snow Leopard". But Schaller's book is the real "Snow Leopard" and deals with the encroachment of humans into the habitat of ( and their hunting of ) mountain mammals throughout the high mountain regions of Asia. Schaller's studies - used as the basis of the first modern conservation efforts in the region - played a pivotal role in at least slowing down the demise of many species there.

Maybe humans will manage to (unintentionally) thin their own herds (themselves) before they manage to kill off all the Snow Leopards.
posted by troutfishing at 4:08 PM on September 7, 2003

Thanks for mentioning this. An archive link at the BBC site you linked to mentioned, "This (authorities seizing a snow leopard from a circus) is the first real evidence that Russian travelling circuses are involved in the smuggling and trading of snow leopards."

I didn't know BBCi had this archive of wildlife facts until tonight.
posted by philfromhavelock at 9:26 PM on September 7, 2003