The elegant snow leopard with their beautiful spotted fur is an endangered species with only around four thousand of them remaining. With habitat deterioration, habitat loss, poaching and climate change their survival is now under threat.
Snow leopards can be found in twelve countries in central Asia, from southern Russia down to the Tibetan plateau, including Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
WHY MUST WE CONSERVE SNOW LEOPARDS?
Simply put, declining population or the extinction of the snow leopard, would disrupt the ecological balance. Alarming? Yes, it should rightly be so. The situation is rather grim. Snow leopards are the top predators in their environment, and they prey on mountain sheep and goats. Without snow leopards the herbivore population will rise. Consequently, herbivore population increases and overgrazing of vegetation will follow, further affecting the food chain adversely, of which, humans, too, are a part, and therefore weakening the ecosystem. So, even if we were to think selfishly and worry only about humankind, then, too, it'll be helpful to know that only by protecting our wildlife and endangered species such as the snow leopard, in this case, would we survive. An unstable ecosystem will see the extinction of human race, too.
Please note: While there are many organisations claiming to work to protect the snow leopard and other endangered species, and inviting donations, my deeper research, to my horror, also led me to understand that there is more to that claim. While there are genuine fund raising efforts, there are very many taking advantage of the charitable nature of many earnest donors. So, I request all readers to please be mindful of this and to donate to the cause only if you are fully convinced of the organisations legitimacy.
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