Snow Leopard Fund Kazakhstan
Oleg Loginov is a snow leopard zoologist, passionate about saving the last remaining endangered cats in Kazakhstan. Last month he contacted me with wishes for a Happy year of the Snow Leopard – something he’s working for.
Oleg lives in Ust-Kamenogorsk near Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan. He was formerly employed at Alma-Ata zoo in the capital. He’s the founder and director of the Snow Leopard Fund of Kazakhstan which was launched in November 2009.
Kazakhstan map. Source Wikipedia.
I’m writing about Oleg because he is facing a huge battle. He’s passionate about saving snow leopards in his country. There was a time when snow leopards were numerous there but over the years, hunting, poaching and habitat loss have decimated the numbers. Estimates vary but it’s likely there are only 100 or so left.
Sadly not many people know or care about the snow leopard being endangered, and this includes many government officials. In fact some government officials still give snow leopard pelts as official gifts, thus sanctioning the killing of the rare cats. But Oleg is keen to research the remaining snow leopards and work with his fellow countrymen to save the animal from extinction in this region.
I’m going to write a bit about Oleg and his work over the next few months. It would be great to get support for him to help him in this important quest.
Some interesting facts about Kazakhstan.
** It is ranked the 9th largest country in the world.
**I t is the world’s largest landlocked country.
** It is larger than Western Europe.
{ 0 comments… add one }