SOS CALL: SAVE THE 'GHOST OF THE MOUNTAINS'by George Zacharia | 19-10-2017 23:44 |
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   "SOS"? Its a code we all have heard, used when we need rescue in many situations. But, this same code is now being used in a campaign to protect an endangered animal, with less than 500 of them left in India. Also, referred to as the "Ghost Of The Mountains".... Any idea on what am I hinting? The Snow Leopard It is... Scientifically its called Panthera uncia .This animal is listed Endangered in the IUCN Red List. With less than 4000 of them in the wild, and less than 500 in India, the situation is very grim. This magnificent cat could be gone forever. (if we don't do anything ) Snow leopards in India make their home in the Himalayas, where the temperatures go below -40 degree celsius. Similar to lions in the jungle, the snow leopards are indisputable kings of this habitat. As many of us would have learnt in our Biology and Environment Classes about how each and every specie is linked and dependent on each other, like a keystone species, snow leopards are important in their ecosystem. Biologists use snow leopards as an indicator of health and resilience of the fragile high mountains Protecting snow leopards means securing the livelihoods of local communities, water security for millions of people and conservation of unique high altitude biodiversity. What is happening that is leading to the loss of this magnificent species? A fifth of the world's population of snow leopards have disappeared in the last 16 years due to poaching, habitat loss and increasing conflicts with communities. Now, Climate change has joined the list. The fur of the snow leopard is priced and more than 1000 snow leopards were killed in the past decade to feed this illegal market. As our human population increases, we start occupying places earlier occupied by animals. The snow leopards require large habitats to live but now more and more of its habitat is taken over by humans. This leads to decline in prey, area for its needs, etc. The decline in the availability of prey for the snow leopards leading it to prey on animals or livestock of humans which leads to angry herders killing the snow leopards for the safety of their livestock. Study of these creatures are tough because of the rough habitat they live in and so researchers say over 90% habitat of Snow Leopards in India remain unexplored. They use various equipments like radiocollars, camera traps, etc to study these specie. The Government of India launched Project Snow Leopard in 2009 to protect the specie. Along with this, WWF India has been organizing various projects to save this specie. WWF India in along with studying and protecting its habitat, etc have also been working with communities. As I told you, when snow leopard attacks the livestock, it turns out to be an enemy for the community. In order to protect the livestock / livelihood of communities and to reduce retaliatory killing of the Snow Leopard, WWF-India has installed 13 Predator Proof Corral Pens positively impacting families living in 13 villages in Ladakh. This is what one community member had to say after seeing the pugmarks of Snow Leopard on top of the installed corral pen. ?Today my family?s livelihood has been saved just because of this corral by WWF? - Mr. Tsewang Narboo a resident of Matho Village (Ladakh) They have launched a call for donations, which you can do by checking the link: http://support.wwfindia.org/sos/?source=SLN-WEB#volunteer . For those unable to donate (afterall, we are students maybe not having a source of income as of now), we have something most important to do, that is to build awareness about this and also to stop buying products made from Snow Leopard fur, etc. Won't you?
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