A Straight Arrow News article by Craig Nigrelli reported that a photographer in Pakistan's Central Karakoram National Park captured a rare sight. The footage shows four snow leopards — a mother with three cubs — traveling across snow-covered terrain, and it is creating a great deal of excitement among conservationists.
The Forest, Wildlife and Environment Department of Gilgit-Baltistan called it "a record picture."
The article explained that the footage is rare because snow leopards are typically solitary animals, often remaining concealed in the rocky environment. A related article by CNN's Sophia Saifi explained that the sighting is remarkable because "snow leopards are among the world's most elusive creatures."
Trail cameras help conservationists monitor difficult-to-observe species such as the snow leopard.
Conservation experts from international organizations have been working together to protect the vulnerable species from threats, including habitat loss, the warming of the planet, and poaching. They typically live in high-altitude areas in 12 countries, including Pakistan, China, India, and Russia.
The article reports that the worldwide snow leopard population is currently thought to be between 4,000 and 6,500.
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Human encroachment on their habitat reduces the size of their territory and creates competition for resources among native species, impacting the population of snow leopards and other plants and animals in a given area. This sometimes leads to snow leopards encroaching on herds of animals kept by humans in surrounding regions in order to survive, so we also see retaliatory killings that further affect the snow leopard population.
The poaching of snow leopards for fur and body parts is also an issue.
The warming of the planet has also contributed to the population decline of the species. As the planet warms — largely a result of human actions — the Alpine regions decrease in area, reducing the size of their habitat.
Maintaining a balanced ecological system is important to the survival of all species, and "conservation groups are working to address these challenges through compensation programs and educational campaigns that promote coexistence between humans and wildlife," reported Nigrelli.
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Definitely 👍 Reducing competition between human herders and snow leopards is one critical aspect of protecting the snow leopard population. Establishing income sources as an alternative to livestock keeping can help. Beekeeping, agroecology, and ecotourism are some of the practices that are making a difference.
The sighting of these snow leopards indicates these programs are having some success and is a reason to celebrate.
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