Climate change threatens snow leopards
23.10.2015
Snow leopard enthusiasts around the world celebrate the second annual International Snow Leopard Day on 23 October to raise awareness about the endangered species. Threats to the elusive mountain feline range from poaching to the loss of habitat due to mining, and climate change may be emerging as yet another challenge for the snow leopard. The Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), the leading authority on the study and protection of the endangered snow leopard, is working on programmes and research that address climate change.
The snow leopard inhabits high-mountain ecosystems across Central Asia. Scientists fear that large parts of these habitats could be impacted within the next few decades if the planet continues to warm at the current pace. According to a projection by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), average annual mean warming will be about 3 °C by the 2050s and about 5 °C in the 2080s over the Asian land mass, with temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau rising substantially more.
Keeping snow leopard landscapes safe for the cats is a challenging task that requires multiple approaches. “Protecting core habitats from immediate threats such as mining or unsustainable trophy hunting of wild snow leopard prey species like ibex and argali is critical”, says Dr Charu Mishra, the SLT’s Science and Conservation Director. “The snow leopard is a landscape species; it needs very large habitats, so we also need to ensure that the cat can coexist with local communities in less protected areas. This will require a joint effort by authorities and civil society.”
On the political stage, SLT and its other partners have been facilitating all the 12 range countries in implementing the 2013 Bishkek Declaration on the conservation of the Snow Leopard. These countries have since identified 23 landscapes to secure for snow leopards across the cat’s range under the Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Plan.
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News and photo by Snow Leopard Trust
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