Save the Snow Leopard from extinction
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Buy the Snow Leopard screensaver at right and help save snow leopards in the wild. You can purchase this screensaver in our online store for only $10.00 by clicking HERE
The Snow Leopard Trust
In 1997 our current President, Jamie Veronica, then age 16, came to me with what was possibly the ugliest, scratchy brown, round, wooly thing I had ever seen. I wasn’t sure what it was, but she was brightly insisting that if we could figure out a way to sell them we could save the snow leopard in the wild. As she shared the newsletter from the Snow Leopard Trust announcing its new program to sell handicrafts made in Mongolia to encourage the local people to protect the snow leopards it seemed like a good idea, brilliant in fact, but who was going to buy this stuff?
Our modest number of visitors who have come into our living room/ gift shop after walking for two hours in 95degree heat, were not going to be clamoring to buy hats, scarves and mittens made from camel wool. Maybe those round things could serve some purpose; oven mitt? door mat? wooly Frisbee? Sales were slow, but Jamie persisted and we always had some sort of Irbis Enterprise gear, now known as Snow Leopard Enterprise, since no one spoke Mongolian and knew that Irbis is their word for Snow Leopard.
When Cynthia and Sharon took over the gift shop in 2005 they brought new passion to the task of selling a broader array that now includes Christmas tree ornaments and pet toys and sales began reaching a more respectable level. One whole corner of the gift shop explains how the sale of these items helps save the snow leopard in the wild.
A few months ago, Dr. Tom McCarthy, the Conservation Director for the Snow Leopard Trust, came to Big Cat Rescue and wowed us with his stories of tracking the elusive cat and he shared with us a breathtaking slide show of the cats living wild and free. Even those of us who hate the cold found ourselves thinking how marvelous it would be to hike up so high that the air was barely enough to breathe, to face the dangers of steep rocky trails and great icy ravines just so we might catch one fleeting glimpse of these magnificent snow leopards living in all their glory at the top of the world. We were so inspired that we began promoting the Snow Leopard Enterprise items in the gift shop more than ever. We understood just how crucial each sale was to protect of these exquisite cats.
On September 27, 2006 the Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust, Brad Rutherford, came to Big Cat Rescue to tell us more about the work that is being done to save the snow leopard from the aspect of building relationships. Whether it is in your family, in your business, in your country or on your planet, it all comes down to relationships.
The snow leopard lives in regions where the average person makes the equivalent of $1.00 per day. Most of the people who share the same highlands with the snow leopard are herders and to them, the loss of one sheep or goat can mean the difference in their survival. Most of the snow leopards that are killed are retribution killings; meaning that the cat has been blamed for killing one of the herd and the herdsman has killed the next snow leopard he saw. The herdsman can eat the cat and sell the hide for 25.00 which for them is a month’s wage. There are many other middle men along the way who are anxious to get their hands on a snow leopard pelt or penis for the Asian medicinal trade or for the black market. The pelt dramatically becomes more valuable as it goes down the line and can cost $5,000.00 or more to the final buyer. Brad pointed out, that it is a good thing that the dead animal is worth so little to the people who are most responsible for killing them however as that makes this practice far more financially feasible to stop.
The Snow Leopard Trust members in China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and Pakistan work closely with the local people to find out what they need. In some cases, they can create handicrafts like those we sell and make five times what they can make from herding. Over the years, the Snow Leopard Trust has brought in marketing people and craftsmen to show the local people how to create items that are marketable.
In some cases, parasites wipe out 10 times as many of their livestock as do predators, so by providing vaccines and wormers, they can help the herders save far more of their flock. What the Snow Leopard Trust does, differently than most who have come before, is that they LISTEN, find solutions that everyone is happy with and they make the programs self sustaining so that the indigenous people can take pride in their accomplishments and not be reliant on charity.
The programs are structured with reducing reliance on Snow Leopard Trust funds for each consecutive year and to remain in the program the community must ensure that no snow leopards are killed. If anyone in the community kills a snow leopard, the entire community risks losing their right to participate in the program for a year and that is enough to keep everyone watching out for the snow leopard. Their claims of protection must verified by the game wardens and governmental agencies who actually have incentives to discover poaching because they are often paid a portion of the confiscation if they can catch a poacher.
We may never get to see one of these glorious cats leaping 40 feet from one rocky ledge to another in an effortless ballet but we can watch our Snow Leopard Trust Screen Savers and imagine what it would be like to stand there in awe at the sight of them living free and we can do it knowing that by purchasing the screensavers and other great Snow Leopard Enterprise items online we helped make that dance possible. Brad told us that next to his organizations' founders' zoo in Seattle, Big Cat Rescue is the largest retailer for Snow Leopard Enterprises.
Buy your screensaver today and 100% of the proceeds go to the Snow Leopard Trust or shop our eBay store for other unique items that save snow leopards in the wild. Click HERE
Field Update 2006:
By Dr. Tom McCarthy Science and Conservation Director
With research and conservation programs to keep up with in several
snow leopard countries, my visits to each individual conservation
site are sadly infrequent. So earlier this summer, when my plane
dropped between the rugged peaks of the Hindu Kush and landed in
Chitral, a small town in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan,
it had been nearly three years since my last visit. A pity, since it
is one of the most beautiful sites in all the snow leopard's range,
and its people could not be more welcoming. On this visit I was not
disappointed, as villagers took me into their homes, spoke
passionately about snow leopards, and asked that I carry a simple
message back to our supporters—Thank You.
Herders near Chitral rely heavily on livestock for their livelihood, and stock losses to depredation and disease make life very hard. So here the Trust uses a two-pronged approach to ease the burden of poverty though handicraft development and livestock vaccinations.
Sitting under a flowering apricot tree in the mountain village of Kuju I listened to a number of elders tell me why the Trust's work is important and how it is helping conserve snow leopards. In their own words:
"As disease decreases in livestock, our poverty too is less, so the vaccination program has been extremely important to us. The trained extension workers help the entire village so now we see nearly 90 percent less losses than before," one villager told me.
Another said, "Because of the handicraft project the women of our village can stand on their own feet and make money for their families. The vaccination program has helped a lot as well, and many diseases are not seen here anymore. We are quite satisfied with the work of the Trust, as there have been many benefits, and we want to maintain our good relations."
An ancient but beaming man added, "We are very proud of this project, we are selling handmade napkins in America! Our story is in the news across Pakistan and now everyone knows of Kuju. Your project has helped make us proud to protect snow leopards."
And the last to speak sent me with this story: "Two snow leopards and their children have visited us here for many years, for a long time we were against these leopards because they killed our livestock. But now we are friends. The snow leopard is a masterpiece of nature and the Snow Leopard Trust has taught us to protect it. Please go back to America and tell your members Thank You!"
http://www.snowleopard.org/news/currentnews/pakistanvillages
Snow Leopard to Bow Out of Afghanistan?
The elusive snow leopard may slip away from the Afghan mountains altogether as hunters get wise to the illicit trade in animal parts.
By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Mazar-e-Sharif (ARR No.229, 15-Sep-06)
Attaullah recently shot one of the world's rarest big cats – and he's proud of it.
He tracked down and killed the elusive snow leopard in the high Pamir mountains of northeastern Afghanistan back in July, and now he is looking for a buyer not only for its valuable pelt, but also for bones, claws and other body parts that will fetch a premium as ingredients for Chinese traditional medicine.
While some conservationists have estimated that there might be a couple of hundred snow leopards left here in the mountains of Badakhshan, where a narrow sliver of Afghan territory is flanked by Tajikistan, China and Pakistan, the country's own Environment Protection Department reckons there are only about 50 left. An accurate count is impossible because apart from being an endangered species, the cat's habitat is up near the snowline and it is rarely seen.
"Going after a snow leopard is the ultimate for any hunter," said Ataullah, 44, who like many Afghans uses just one name. "Sometimes we won't find one for three months. It depends on the luck of the individual."
A five-year ban on hunting imposed by Afghan president Hamed Karzai is still in force, but is difficult to enforce and widely ignored.
"If the hunting of certain rare animals like the snow leopard, the Marco Polo sheep, brown bear and musk deer is not banned, they will rapidly be wiped out," warned Dost Mohammad Amin, the deputy head of the Afghan Environment Protection Department.
Amin believes the president's moratorium has had some success, and his agency now wants to make the ban on killing certain species permanent by setting up nature reserves.
People in the mountains have always shot or trapped the occasional snow leopard for preying on their livestock. But specialised hunters like Attaullah are a different breed – and now seem to be spurred on by the booming market in exotic animal parts for use in traditional Oriental medicine. Attaullah will get 100 dollars for these "medicinal" items, plus 900 US dollars for the thick pelt.
With that kind of income on offer, hunters are prepared to invest time, money and effort in securing a kill.
"Sometimes we'll wait a month to go after a good specimen, because valuable animals are scarce and it's very hard to hunt them," said Attaullah. "We start out in July when the roads become clear of snow. We have special hunting rifles that we've bought in Pakistan, and we wait for the animal we want."
Conservationist Amin reported optimistically that on a recent trip to the capital Kabul, he had only seen two or three faded snow leopard skins on sale, when previously they were a common sight.
However, the insider Attaullah revealed that the reason is that the trade is getting more organised, "In the past, we used to sell the leopard pelts in Kabul, but now we don't have to take them there because so many merchants come to our district from Pakistan to buy them up."
Given its low population numbers, this kind of increased pressure could drive the snow leopard out of existence in Afghanistan. The cat is under threat across its range from the Himalayas through Central Asia to Mongolia.
Attaullah has a compelling justification for hunting – in a country devastated by war and poverty, he and many like him need to support a family.
"I caught a snow leopard in the Pamirs this summer and I'll earn 1,000 dollars – I'd never make that amount by doing anything else," he said.
When he is not stalking big cats, Attaullah goes after wild sheep and anything else he can catch to put food on the table.
In the Seventies, the Marco Polo sheep, another rare Pamir species and the world's largest sheep, was a favourite target for rich foreigners on hunting expeditions – the massive horns were a prized trophy. These days, Attaullah sees it as several delicious meals and 200 dollars in cash for the hide.
He dismisses calls for a ban, saying, "This hunting has been going on for thousands of years. If the population of these animals were in decline, there wouldn’t be any left. It is just an excuse by powerful men who want to stop us hunting so that they can keep them [game animals] for themselves."
With vast tracts of inaccessible mountain wilderness in his province, Badakhshan's governor Abdul Majid says he does not have the resources to curb poaching.
"For one thing, these animals don't have specific habitats because they range across the mountains of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and China," he said. "Nor do we have the capacity to monitor the territory. The areas where these animals live are… covered in snow for nine months of the year. We have only one district police department with 40 men to cover these areas, so how can we control them?"
Abdul Majid said he believed most of the hunters were not Afghans, and came from other countries.
Amin hopes a new initiative by Afghanistan, Tajikistan and China to create a cross-border game reserve called the Pamir International Peace Park could help save vulnerable species.
"A conference in Dushanbe held in mid-July decided that all mountain regions where rare animals live in these three countries will be declared a Peace Park, and no one will be allowed to enter it," he explained, adding that all three countries would provide rangers to police the reserve.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the environmental agency plans to establish national game reserves once it completes a survey of how many of the 119 major species of animal recorded 30 years ago are still there, and identifies areas where they survive in sustainable numbers.
Attaullah is unhappy with all this talk of conservation and restrictive rules. He said, "These animals are wild and free. One day they're in one place, the next day they're somewhere else. If they feel confined, they'll become depressed and may leave the area altogether, or they may pine and die, which is much worse than being hunted."
As well as hunting, Karzai's ban also covered the poaching of fish. Amin said poaching has declined by a massive 85 per cent since the order was issued.
But that statistic would not mean anything to Gul Murad, who is in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif selling fish he has caught illegally in the Amu Darya river.
He happily explained his fishing technique, "We throw hand grenades into the river. It's very easy. The little fish die, too, but it doesn't affect the overall number of fish in the river.
"If we don't catch them, someone else will."
For many species of wildlife, that argument may prove all too true.
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=arr&s=f&o=323899&apc_state=henparr
Snow Leopard Population Decreasing
PC LOUHUMI SHIMLA, JUNE 19 2005 (PTI)
Wildlife authorities in Himachal Pradesh are making sustained efforts to preserve the elusive and endangered snow leopard whose population had shrunk considerably in past two decades.
Snow leopards found in high altitude snow-bound areas in the tribal belt are facing extinction as their natural habitat has been disturbed and prey-base like blue sheep, goral, thar ibex and other harbivorous animals is fast dwindling.
Although, wildlife authorities deny any poaching of these animals in snow-bound areas, they have no plausible explanation for a sharp decrease in the population of the small animals which sustain the snow leopards in Alpine region of Kibber, the highest populated village at an altitude of 15,000 feet and Pin valley in the tribal belt.
According to a survey conducted last year, 34 snow leopards were detected in the state but the seperate number of male and female leopards could not be ascertained.
Of these, 24 were spotted in Kibber and Pin valley areas alone and the wildlife department is looking for different bloodline snow leopards for breeding which could later be set free in their natural habitat.
The snow leopard conservancy has also expressed concern over depleting number of snow leopards and initiated steps to promote their shrinking habitat.
The state wildlife department proposed to sign a memorandum of understanding with snow leopard conservancy for launching a conservation project which envisages expansion of habitat for snow leopards and exploring ways to increase the 'food cover' in the Alpine region. According to Chief Wildlife Warden A K Gulati, the department is serious about establishing the conservation project under which the prey base of snow leopard and human-animal conflict would be studied widely and steps for breeding of endangered animal would also be taken up.
He said the department had brought a pair of snow leopards from Padmaja Naidu zoo in Darjeeling but breeding could not be done due to genetic similarities which could result a inbreeding problems.
Attempts are also being made to import to get a new bloodline of snow leopards from Amsterdam in Holland for breeding and once the experiment is successful, the conservation of snow leopard would not be a difficult task, Gulati said.
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=305318
Big Cat Rescue is saving snow leopards. We post the latest in snow leopard news here 
and in our newsletter Cat Tales. We gather news from around the world DAILY and forward it to The Association of Sanctuaries and the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, of which we are a part, who are actively involved in saving snow leopards. See what you can do to help save these exotic cats in captivity and in the wild. Great Cats are in peril around the world and need people like you, who care about snow leopards and other exotic cats to help save them from the brink of extinction. Big Cat Rescue is working to make it illegal to sell snow leopards as pets and is diligently striving to improve conditions for big cats in zoos and circuses.
The Wildlife Conservation Network is an organization that shares our belief that the money should go to the animals and not be wasted on salaries and benefits for those who are doing the fundraising. If you contact them and say you want 100% of your donation to go to the snow leopards in the wild, that is exactly what will happen. Rodney Jackson and Darla Hilliard wrote Vanishing Tracks about their field work for four years in the Himalayas with the elusive snow leopard. They founded the Snow Leopard Conservancy and are supported in part by Wildlife Conservation Network. To read more about this conservation effort go to: http://www.wildnet.org/snowleopard.htmTo make a donation to help save snow leopards in the wild go to www.WildNet.org To make a donation to help save them in captivity go to the Make a Difference button at left.
Snow
leopards are the most elusive of the great cats - perfectly camouflaged for
their rocky mountain habitat in the Himalayas and the mountains of Central Asia.
Despite living in some of the harshest terrain on earth, and at the highest
altitudes, snow leopards are seriously threatened in the wild. These cats share
the high mountains with nomadic herders who eke out a subsistence living with
their yaks, horses, sheep and goats on the alpine pastures. Conflicts arise
between these tough mountain people and snow leopards when occasionally the cats
try to take domestic livestock, which the people depend on for every aspect of
their life. When this happens, the people sometimes try to kill the cats in
retribution. Poverty leaves them no other option.
The International Snow Leopard Trust is dedicated to "conserve the endangered snow leopard and its mountain ecosystem through a balanced approach that considers the needs of local people and the environment." One of the programs being implemented helps the nomadic herders who share the mountains with snow leopards to increase their household income by making and marketing handicrafts. In return for the extra income herders commit to specific actions that will help the snow leopard. This program is called Irbis Enterprises (Irbis means snow leopard in many central Asian languages, including Mongolian) ISLT also supports ways of reducing livestock losses so that conflicts do not occur so often.
You can directly support these efforts by joining the International Snow Leopard Trust or - even better - by purchasing some of the handicrafts made by the people who are the MOST important link in ensuring the cats survive in the wild for ever. Please visit The international Snow Leopard Trust Web-site: www.snowleopard.org for more general information about snow leopards in the wild. Go to the Irbis Enterprises Web-site to see products made by the herders and to learn more about conservation efforts in Mongolia www.irbis-enterprises.com Thanks so much for your passion for cats, they need all the help we can give!
You can buy some of these items on line in our secure gift shop. Look for Snow Leopard.
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