Project Snow Leopard:
- Snow Leopard is globally endangered species as well as the most important flagship species of the mountain region
- Project aims to conserve biodiversity with community participation
- The project will be operational in five Himalayan States viz. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh with active support from wildlife institute of India and the Mysore based Nature Conservation Foundation.
- The project stresses on a landscape approach to conservation wherein smaller core zones with relatively conservation values will be identified and conserved with support and the larger landscape will be managed in such a way that it allows necessary development benefits to the local communities.
- The project thus places greater importance to careful and knowledge-based management planning of the landscapes.
- Species such as Snow Leopard, Asiatic Ibex, Tibetan Argali, Ladakh Urial, Chiru, Takin, Serow and Musk Deer will particularly benefit from this project.
Snow Leopard:
- Snow leopard (Panthera uncial) is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia- including Himalayas, and Russia’s remote Altai mountains.
- Snow Leopard is found in 11 countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. These countries formed the Global Snow Leopard Forum (GSLF) and signed the Bishkek Declaration to acknowledge its importance as the indicator of the health and sustainability of mountain ecosystems.
- It is the State animal of Himachal Pradesh.
Threats: It is threatened by poaching for their fur, habitat destruction by infrastructure developments and climate change.
Protection Status:
- It has been listed in Schedule I under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, Appendix I of Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and Appendix I Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
- In September 2017, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had downgraded conservation status of snow leopard to “vulnerable” from “endangered”.
- The change in status comes 45 years after snow leopard was first declared endangered in 1972. However, experts have warned that snow leopard species still faces serious threats from poaching and habitat destruction.
- It is National Heritage Animal of Pakistan and Afghanistan.