Snow leopard went viral on internet
Recently, a few days before World Earth Day, the picture of snow leopard was going viral on the internet.
Key facts in relation to snow leopard
- The scientific name of snow leopard is Pantherauncia. Its basic habitats are the mountainous regions of Central and Southern Asia.
- In India, it is found in the states of Jammu and Kashmir of the Western Himalayas and Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the Himachal Pradesh and Eastern Himalayas.
- Hemis National Park in Ladakh is the largest national park in India for snow leopards in India. It has the highest number of snow leopards.
Snow Leopard Status:
- The snow leopard is listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
- And also listed it in Appendix-I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora-CITES “an Organization for the Prevention of International Trade of Endangered Species”.
- The CITES was created on the basis of a draft adopted in 1963 at the meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). CITES came into force on 1 July
- The snow leopard is also listed in Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, It is also listed in the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
Efforts to conserve it in India:
- Snow leopard is protected as a major species of the High Himalayas by the Government of India. India has been a partner since 2013 for the “The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP)”on snow leopard conservation.
- It is also protected by the people of the Himalayas through a volunteer program called “Himalaya Sanrakshak”.
- The ‘Snow Leopard Population Assessment’ program has also been launched in the year 2019 for the census of snow leopards.
- The Snow Leopard Project has been started in the year 2009 to conserve snow leopards and their habitat.
- At the same time, programs for breeding snow leopards are being organized in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling and West Bengal.
Snow Leopard Conservation Breeding Program (GSLEP)
It is a high-level intergovernmental coalition of the major 12 countries with the Snow Leopard Range. This includes India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Source – The Hindu
