The number of snow leopards has declined by 20 percent across the world in the last 16 years. A report by the World Wildlife Fund, released yesterday, states only 4,000 snow leopards remain in the wild today.
The report also states, the effects of climate change could lead to further dwindling of the snow leopard population by 30 percent should the present trend continue.
WWF’s Sami Tornikoski said, the biggest impact on the snow leopard population continue to remain climate change. But the recent decline in the specie’s population has also been contributed to an extent by human action such as poaching and retaliatory killing.
The cat is found in only 12 countries, biologists said the cat plays an important role in mountain ecosystem.
Sami said, if there are disturbances in their habitat, the leopard will not be able to roam freely.
The report is part of the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Himalayas Initiative focusing on snow leopard landscapes and its conservation in Bhutan, India and Nepal.
