The images of four snow leopards rarely viewed that rise cliffs snowed in northern Pakistan have created a frenzy of emotion among conservationists, the CNN reported.
The snow leopards are among the most evasive creatures of the world in nature and it is difficult to catch even one in camera, much less four, with the sighting held as a success story for Pakistan conservation efforts.
Sakhawat Ali, a lover of photography and enthusiastic of the photography of the remote village of Hushe, captured the images on March 13 after what he described as “two weeks of tracking her leg traces” through the Central Park Karakoram covered with snow, near K2, the second highest mountain in the world.
Ali told CNN that the four Las Nieves Leopard were a mother and her three puppies.
“In the town we are accustomed to seeing the snow leopards, but nobody, not even the elders I talked to, I have seen four snow leopards at once,” he said.
The four Las Nieves Leopard were seen in a snowy cliff in the Central National Park of Karakoram, in northern Pakistan.
The four Las Nieves Leopard were seen in a snowy cliff in the Central National Park of Karakoram, in northern Pakistan. Sakhawat Ali
First he saw the mother, then began to observe additional leg traces. Later “he was lucky” reviewing animals while watching a nearby cliff, through binoculars, from the roof of his house. He went out with their camera to film them, from a distance of 200 meters.
Ali said that the residents of his people are celebrating the sighting, although they have some concerns that their cattle could be in danger.
The snow leopards currently appear as “vulnerable” in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list of threatened species. Locally known as the “ghost of the mountains”, they easily camouflage in their natural habitat of the Karakoram mountain range in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
The environmental anthropologist Shafqat Hussain says that the rocky land in northern Pakistan is perhaps the “best snow leopard habitat of the world.”
They only live in the high Alpine areas of Himalaya and, although its habitat extends to more than 12 nations, including China, Bután, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Russia and Mongolia, the sightings are extremely rare.
Dr. Zakir Hussain, head of conservative and wildlife parks of Gilgit-Baltistan told CNN that the sighting was a “victory” for the work that was done to increase consciousness between local communities about the importance of protecting the snow leopards. He said that eighty percent of community members are now involved in conservation, monitoring and awareness activities.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Pakistan, said it was optimistic about sighting, but that stressed snow leopards remain an endangered species that still faces “numerous threats.”
In a statement, he said that it is crucial that local communities “work together to protect and conserve these incredible great cats, ensuring that future generations can witness their splendor in nature.”
According to the United Nations Environment Program, “human activities and cattle crops in some areas have led to the degradation of grassland habitats and wildlife,” affecting the food supplies of the snow leopards.
Other threats according to UNEP include poaching and fragmentation of the animal’s habitat due to new mass infrastructure projects in addition to climate change, which is expected to aggravate these existing threats. “
In 2023, Pakistan was classified as the fifth country most vulnerable to climate change according to the global climate risk index of the World Bank.
