June 2010

Wild snow leopard photographed in Tibet / China

June 25, 2010 China

(See correction on the real source of this photo in the August 1st post). An enterprising amateur photographer, Ma Shengtang, has successfully taken photos of a wild snow leopard in Zhiduo County in Yushu, Qinghai province of China (formerly Tibet). The photos have been published by Xinhua, the Chinese News Agency and were taken with [...]

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How do you keep an old snow leopard young?

June 23, 2010 Snow leopards in Zoos

Snow leopards in zoos live much longer than their wild counterparts. 20-year-old Shimbu, at Melbourne Zoo for example, is about twice the age she would have been in the wild. She gets more food than in the wild, and it’s better quality food. She lacks predators to harm and injure her, and she has great [...]

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June 17, 2010 Saving snow leopards

“Saving Snow Leopards” blog now has a newsletter. See signup box on the right. Get your dose of snow leopard news in your inbox each month.

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Habiba Sarabi, snow leopard champion

June 17, 2010 Afghanistan

Habiba Sarabi became the first female governor of an Afghan province, the province of Bamiyan in 2005. Bamiyan is one of the poorest of all provinces and the place where the ancient Bamiyan Buddha carvings had stood for 1400 years before the Taliban blew them up in 2001. Sarabi’s role in snow leopard conservation has [...]

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Snow leopards favor Calvin Klein scent

June 11, 2010 Snow leopards in Zoos

Zoos have used scents for animal enrichment for many years but recently it’s been found that one particular scent, Calvin Klein’s Obsession for Men seems to be a big hit. The technique of using scents to attract and interest cats in captivity was perfected by Pat Thomas, General Curator of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx [...]

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Snow leopards ask – “How old is our home?”

June 7, 2010 Snow leopard habitat

I was looking at some photos of the Himalayas the other day and thinking about how old that massive mountain range actually is. Himalayas, meaning in Sanskrit “the abode of snow”, are home to snow leopards across Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. A quick look at Wikipedia had it sorted – the Himalayas [...]

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Every day has to be Environment Day for snow leopards

June 5, 2010 Endangered species

Today is World Environment Day 2010 – June 5th. This year’s UN theme “Many Species – One Planet – One Future” made me reflect on just how important it is right now, this day, this month, this year, to focus our efforts on endangered wildlife before it’s too late. This means a big effort to [...]

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‘Time’ photos of captured snow leopard in Afghanistan

June 3, 2010 Afghanistan

Readers may recall the story of the captured snow leopard in Afghanistan I wrote about in March. Richard Fite, the US veterinarian who advises for the U.S. Agricultural Department in northern Afghanistan, tried to save the cat, which had been captured for the illegal wildlife trade, but sadly she died. Richard shared his hope with [...]

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