Ice to see you: Snow leopards have been discovered thriving in war-torn Afghanistan

By Daily Mail Reporter


Well spotted: The Wildlife Conservation Society's cameras snapped secretive snow leopards across the mountains of Afghanistan


Despite a savage war being fought there, Afghanistan is home to a healthy population of snow leopards, a wildlife group has discovered.

The big cats are among the most elusive animals on earth and their numbers are threatened, but the World Conservation Society has documented a relatively large number of the predators in the war-torn country using camera traps.

The usually solitary animals have been snapped at 16 locations across the Wakhan Corridor, a long panhandle in north-eastern Afghanistan free from the insurgency that plagues most of the country, the campaign group said today.

Snow joke: These leopards keep warm in cold climates thanks to their thick fur coats


Only some 4,500 to 7,500 snow leopards live across a dozen nations in the high mountain ranges of Central Asia, usually at altitudes between 9,800 and 18,000 feet.

The cats are poached for their pelts and killed by shepherds guarding their flocks upon which the leopards sometimes prey.

The sleek, fuzzy-tailed leopards are also captured for the pet trade, while an increasing demand for their penises and bones in China, where some believe they enhance sexual performance, has also led to their decimation.

‘This is a wonderful discovery. It shows that there is real hope for snow leopards in Afghanistan. Now our goal is to ensure that these magnificent animals have a secure future as part of Afghanistan's natural heritage,’ Peter Zahler, the World Conservation Society's deputy Asia director, said in the

Cat's amazing: The snow leopards have adapted to live at very high altitudes and are very secretive

Rock on: This snow leopard was filmed getting up close and personal with a huge boulder

Paws for thought: Sadly, these magnificent animals are poached for the distinctive fur coats


The New York-based group has been working in the Wakhan Corridor, which borders China, Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 2006 on protecting wildlife including the Marco Polo sheep and the ibex.

George Schaller, a wildlife biologist with the society, has proposed creating a reserve in the region.

The statement did not estimate the number of leopards in the corridor, but said the species remained threatened.

The society, which works with the U.S. government's aid arm, USAID, is providing conservation education in every Wakhan school, has trained 59 rangers to monitor wildlife, constructed predator-proof livestock corrals and started an insurance scheme to compensate shepherds for livestock taken by predators.


source:dailymail