Pakistani minister visits snow leopard at Bronx Zoo

NEW YORK, Aug 1 (APP) :

….[Pakistan’s Environment Minister] Faisel Saleh Hayat…visited the Bronx Zoo in New York to see the snow leopard ‘Leo’, who was transported to New York after surviving both the loss of his parents and the Pakistani earthquake.

He was found in the snow-hit north of the country last year by a shepherd who hand-fed him to keep him alive.

The snow leopard is one of the world’s most endangered big cat species. He was flown here in August 2006 under an agreement signed between Northern Areas Administration and Wildlife Conservation Society of USA.

Leo is likely to be returned to Pakistan with a female after few years.

The snow leopard ‘Leo’ was visited by First Lady Begum Pervez Musharraf in September 2006 and later on by the Minister of State for Environment Malik Amin Aslam.

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