Protected animals in my country (Pakistan)

Animal Population Status: Snow Leopard ( Panthera uncia ) Pakistan

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Local name- barfaani chita, The Snow Leopard occurs in high mountains of northern Pakistan, in the Himalayas, Karakoram, Pamir, and Hindu Kush. It mostly lives in regions in Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral and some of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The WWF-Pakistan and the Snow Leopard Foundation estimate, there are 2001420 Snow Leopards in Pakistan. The IUCN Red List categorizes it as Vulnerable because of the decrease in the number of those individuals.

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Threat and Habitat Change:

In Pakistan, Snow Leopards are under threat of various factors:

Habitat destruction caused by human encroachment, construction of amenities (such as roads and tourism) and overgrazing of livestock which lowers the availability of natural preys.

Increase in the climate is changing weather that is lowering the snow line, decreasing the available cold habitats.

Their major causes of deaths are poaching in the name of fur and bones and retaliatory killings by local herders who have their livestock poached.

The Snow Leopard is believed to be a mountain ecological symbol in Pakistan and it is an important part of the ecological balance, where it controls prey population.

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The Snow Leopard is under legal protection of the following:

The CITES regulations that are implemented in the Pakistan trade control of wild fauna and flora act 2012.

Gilgit-Baltistan wildlife Act of 1975, and other local legislations, which ban the hunting and trade of Snow Leopards.

It also was listed in the Appendix I of CITES where the commercial international trade was prohibited.

Other initiatives to conserve snow leopard habitat are in Pakistan by WWF-Pakistan and Snow Leopard Foundation, and globally through the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). The targets of these programs are to carry out monitoring of populations, lessen human-wildlife conflict, and also involve the local community in the conservation.

References

WWF-Pakistan. (www.wwfpak.org)

IUCN Red List. (www. iucnredlist.org)

Snow Leopard Foundation Pakistan. (www.snowleopard.org.pk)

Appendices CITES. (www.cites.org)

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