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Endangered snow leopard spotted in north Sikkim

Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee

  • The snow leopard, an endangered animal, has been found in north Sikkim.

  • It was found in a pilot project by WWF India.(World Wide Fund for Nature)

Efforts made by WWF India for the conservation :

  • Addressing retaliatory killing of snow leopards due to livestock depredation, managing the population of free ranging dogs and securing livelihoods of local communities, especially by targeting community resilience towards climate-induced changes .

  • The camera trap study will be implemented across the entire potential distribution range in Sikkim in multiple phases.

  • The project is the first attempt to fill gaps in conservationists’ knowledge of snow leopards in this important habitat.

  • The complete intensive camera trap study, expected to be completed by 2017.

Snow leopard Facts:

  • The snow leopard  is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

  • The snow leopard is the National Heritage Animal of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Snow leopard range.png
Map depicting snow Leopard Habitat

  • According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an international organization working for animal welfare, snow leopards are an endangered species. As per IUCN’s estimates, the total estimated population in its range countries—Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, Nepal, India and others—is between 4,080 and 6,590.

    Of those, its population in India is around 200-600. It is also a protected species under India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

 World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF) facts:

  • The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization.

  • Headquarters: Switzerland

  • It is working in the field of the biodiversity conservation, and the reduction of humanity’s footprint on the environment, it is also concerned with endangered species, sustainable production of commodities and climate change.

  • Aims:“to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature”

  • It is the world’s largest conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects.

  • Funds collected (2014): 55% of funding from individuals and bequests, 19% from government sources (such as the World Bank, DFID, USAID) and 8% from corporations .

  • WWF publishes the Living Planet Index , giving an overview of the impact of human activity on the world

WWF India Facts:

  • WWF-India is the Indian part of the WWF

  • It is the largest organisation engaged in wildlife and nature conservation in the country.

  • it aims at strengthening individual and institutional capacity in nature conservation and environmental protection through widespread education and awareness.

  • Climate Change and Energy Conservation are among the chief areas of concern.

International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) Facts:

  • International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

  • Mission is to “influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.”

  • IUCN had widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to gender equality, poverty alleviation and sustainable business.

  • IUCN Red list is a system of classifying plants, animals etc on basis of their likelihood of extinction.

IUCN Redlist

“An Endangered (EN) species is a species which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)Red List as likely to become extinct. “Endangered” is the second most severe conservation status for wild populations in the IUCN’s schema afterCritically Endangered (CR)”

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