Snow leopard numbers decline in mountains of Nepal. Photo by Sibylle.
The news about snow leopards in Nepal seems to be mixed. The Myrepublica website, a news website from Nepal has reported that the number of snow leopards there has been estimated to have declined – now believed to be between 300 and 400, while previously their number was estimated to be between 400 and 500. Counting of snow leopards was done in the mountainous region from Ganesh Himal to Rolwaling, Sagarmatha, Makalu Varun and Kanchanjungha with the financial help from WWF America, England and Finland. The same report says that the tiger population has also declined. Hopefully these number can be improved in the next years by more conservation efforts. See Report here.
However snow leopard researchers say that the evidence isn’t clear to suggest that number are down, just that the data is being interpreted differently. Let’s hope they’re right. See Snow Leopard Network for more on this discussion.
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