Climate change could push endangered snow leopards over the edge — WWF

The limited efforts to track the snow leopard populations in Central Asia have revealed that over the past 16 years, their numbers have dropped by 20 percent.

WWF is working on global strategy to save the species, including on-the-ground work with communities in the snow leopards' 12-state range, providing information about livestock management, landscaping plans, and water management.

If drastic action is not taken to curb the effects of climate change, more than a third of snow leopards' habitat will likely become unsuitable, according to a report released this week by the World Wildlife Fund.

WWF India is involved in nature conservation and protection, apart from several projects in areas like biodiversity, enviro-legal action, policy studies and advocacy.

Increased global temperatures will cause the tree line to shift higher up the mountain.

Whereas the statistics may look bleak, it's troublesome to precisely quantify how local weather change will impression the species, provided that research like these from the WWF are projections.

"It is bleak, but it's not hopeless". Rising temperatures could reduce the amount of water available to the 330 million people living downstream of snow leopard territory.

So, what can be done to protect the animals now? Rutherford said that conservation is hard, given the wide expanse of land that the animals traverse.

Conflicts with humans and livestock are increasingly common in the Eastern Himalays, where habitat fragmentation leaves the leopards without proper hunting grounds and fewer prey. And the prey that the snow leopard hunts such as markhor, ibex and blue sheep are fast disappearing from the region. Mysterious and elusive, the cat has fascinated explorers, researchers and conservationists across the world...

Such contact increases competition for snow leopard prey, and greatly increases the likelihood that humans will kill snow leopards in retaliation for lost herds.

The cats freely cross the global boundaries of 12 countries, their secretive behavior and remote habitat among the highest mountains in the world add to their mystery.

The report also said less than 14% of snow leopard habitat had been covered by either research or conservation activities. "The massive takeaway I've, after 15 years on this area, is that it is a false selection". Helping snow leopards means you are helping humans. There have been many instances in which other members of the big cat family have been forced to search for sustenance in human settlements, which has resulted in their brutal deaths at the hands of panicked people. Besides these threats, the snow leopard has always been a prime target for poachers, as the elusive creature's body parts are in high demand for their perceived medicinal properties in many Asian countries.

Climate change, not to mention indirect threats that include rapid population growth and development pushing into snow leopard habitats, all have a huge impact on the endangered species.

The report was presented on the first worldwide Snow Leopard Day held on Friday, October 23 in Bishkek. Climate change could cut water supplies, affecting people across the continent, said WWF.

Rebecca May, WWF-UK's snow leopard programme lead, said: "The Himalayas region will face a major crisis if we choose to ignore climate change".