International Snow Leopard Day, 23rd October


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International Snow Leopard Day, 23rd October - Press Release

This document, edited jointly by the conservation organizations represented in the Snow Leopard Network, establishes a scientific baseline and identifies priorities and best practices in protecting the endangered cat.

Concerns Remain

Despite the progress that’s being made for the snow leopard, the cat remains endangered. There is no accurate, range-wide population count; the most recent estimate from the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program in 2013 estimated the number of snow leopards remaining in the wild at a dangerously low 3920 – 6390.

The cat’s habitats, which are increasingly fragmented, continue to be under pressure from mining, large-scale development, and climate change. Populations of natural prey species are thought to be in decline as well. Poaching and retaliation killings by local herders who fear for their livestock are another major threat that remains very much acute.

Worldwide Effort Needed

In the last few years, the international community has made more significant steps to saving the snow leopard than ever before.It is crucial that those efforts be intensified in the coming decade, as the cat’s fate may indeed be decided by our generation.

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