A snow leopard rubbing itself to send a message to other snow leopards on a rocky ledge in Hemis National Park, Ladakh India. This photo was taken by wildlife photographer (c) Steve Winter with a remote camera trap and is featured in National Geographic Magazine.
Happy New Year to all snow leopards and snow leopard supporters. I have been away for the last month firstly at a Global Snow Leopard Workshop in Kyrgyzstan (more on that later) and then a few weeks of summer holidays (in Australia) with family and friends.
We have many plans to expand the Saving Snow Leopards website and blog which last November celebrated its fourth year. Thank you to the many hundreds of thousands of visitors and the many thousands of you who have made comments or sent me emails. We appreciate your concerns, suggestions and your support.
The snow leopard research and conservation community needs your help. As we enter 2013 many researchers believe numbers have decreased to just 4000 or so of our beautiful and precious cats in the wild.
Without your support, your donations and your involvement it will be impossible to ensure long term safe habitats for snow leopards in the wild in their 12 range countries. Organisations like the Snow Leopard Trust and the Snow Leopard Conservancy lead the way in research, education and community conservation. Each year they work with thousands of villagers, school children and herders to protect snow leopards. They spend countless hours in cold harsh climates learning more and more about how these cats survive in remote mountains. They help set up anti-poaching units to confiscate illegal snares and guns, they lobby governments and wildlife officials. All this takes money and support.
Thanks again for your support so far and I look forward to our journey over the next year. Together we can make 2013 a good year for helping endangered snow leopards.
Sibylle Noras, Founder and Publisher “Saving Snow Leopards” website.
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