World Snow Leopard Day To Create Awareness On Endangered Species Conservation

The international Snow Leopard Day would be held on Saturday to mark the healthy existence of the elusive cat necessary for healthy ecosystems and creating awareness on protection of the endangered species

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Oct, 2021 ) :The international Snow Leopard Day would be held on Saturday to mark the healthy existence of the elusive cat necessary for healthy ecosystems and creating awareness on protection of the endangered species.

The theme for International Snow Leopard Day 2021 was "Healthy Snow Leopard Population � Healthy Ecosystems".

The Day, also known as the World Snow Leopard Day,is an annual observance that takes place on 23rd October. This day provides an opportunity to celebrate these magnificent big cats.

On 23 October 2013, a declaration for the conservation of the snow leopard was adopted in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. All 12 snow leopard range countries adopted this resolution including Pakistan.

The resolution emphasized the need for urgent collective action to protect and recover snow leopard populations and their habitat. It was also declared that International Snow Leopard Day will be celebrated on 23 October each year so the first Snow Leopard Day was celebrated on 23 October 2014.

The eighth International Snow Leopard Day would be celebrated on Saturday, 23 October 2021.

Pakistan Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Programme (PSLEP) National Project Manager, Jaffar Ud Din told APP that the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) under the supervision of the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) initiated a GEF-UNDP funded five-year project since, 2018 to address the issue.

He said, "Snow Leopard is a vulnerable species at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of endangered species and Endangered Species in Pakistan that have been facing myriad socio-ecological threats and require a holistic conservation approach at landscape level.

" He said impacts of climate change in tandem with the growing population of domestic livestock and dependency of remote and disadvantaged communities on the natural resources for sustenance is triggering intrusion into Snow Leopard's habitat and as a consequence attacks on livestock of local farmers is mounting the conflict.

Jaffar mentioned that competition between wild sheep and goats and increasing domestic livestock for food in its natural environment of snowy mountains had also forced the Snow Leopard to feed on livestock, being a comparatively easy meal.

The spotted big cats possessed an incredible strength and speed that helps it to leap further than any other animal. Their powerful legs allow them to leap as far as 50 feet. Snow Leopards also have a long tail that can grow up to 90% as long as their bodies and they use it for balance and as blankets to cover sensitive parts of their bodies in extremely cold temperatures.

Interestingly, this inhabitant of the cold high mountains is the only big cat that cannot roar.Snow leopards are so shy and elusive that they are rarely seen in the wild. These big cats are so reclusive that they are sometimes referred to as the 'ghosts of the mountains'.

They inhabit the highest altitude documented of any cat and are found up to 20,000 feet high in the Himalayas, Southern Siberian Mountains, and Tibetan Plateau.

Due to its thick and dense fur, they can endure temperatures as low as -40 Fahrenheit whereas, the Snow Leopards have the densest fur of all cats with about 26,000 hairs per square inch.

They can kill animals three times their weight and usually prey upon ibexes, bharals, argalis, pikas, hares, marmots, and game birds.

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