Syllabus: GS-III
Subject: Environment
Topic: Species in News.
Issue: A survey report on Snow Leopard.
Context: According to a first-of-its-kind, four-year-long estimation exercise, India has an estimated 718 snow leopards in the wild.
Key points highlighted by the survey:
- India is home to an estimated 10% of the global Snow Leopard population.
- The highest number of snow leopards were found in Ladakh, followed by Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Jammu and Kashmir.
- It is a collaborative effort involving various organizations including the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the World Wide Fund for Nature-India, and the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru.
- Faces threats from factors such as human-wildlife conflict, poaching, and habitat loss.
| (Prelims) Species in news: Snow leopard ·        IUCN Status:  ‘vulnerable’.
·        Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Schedule I. ·        CITES:  the Appendix Iand Appendix I Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). ·        It is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia- including the Himalayas, and Russia’s remote Altai mountains. ·        Snow leopard range countries formed the Global Snow Leopard Forum (GSLF) and signed the Bishkek Declaration. ·        Indian National Parks where the Snow Leopard is likely to be spotted: o  Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary – Himachal Pradesh o  Ulley Valley – Ladakh o  Hemis National Park – Himachal Pradesh Project Snow Leopard : ·        Launched in 2009, by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate. ·        To promote an inclusive, participatory, and landscape-based approach to conserving Snow Leopards and their habitat in India. ·        The project is operational in five Himalayan states: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. |
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