DUSHANBE, October 25, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan intends to develop and adopt a national snow leopard conservation program, M. Salimov, an aide to the head of the Committee for Environmental Protection of Tajikistan, told Asia-Plus Friday afternoon.
According to him, Tajik delegation recently participated at the Global Snow Leopard Conservation Forum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
“Representatives of the Tajik delegation actively participated in discussion of documents for further conservation of snow leopard in the Central Asian region,” Salimov said.
On October 22-23, representatives of 12 snow leopard range countries and the international conservation community gathered in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for the Global Snow Leopard Conservation Forum, jointly organized by the Office of the President of Kyrgyzstan and the State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of Kyrgyzstan.
The objective of the Forum was to discuss urgent actions and a new global strategy to address conservation of the endangered snow leopard and its habitat in the critical ecosystems of Central Asia.
The 12 snow leopard range countries are: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Forum was co-organized by Global Tiger Initiative, NABU, Snow Leopard Trust, UNDP, World Bank and sponsored by Global Environment Facility, Snow Leopard Conservancy, and WWF.
The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. Classically, two subspecies have been attributed, but genetic differences between the two have not been settled. The snow leopard is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as globally Endangered (EN).
Snow leopards occupy alpine and subalpine areas generally 3,350 to 6,700 meters above sea level in Central Asia. Many of the snow leopard population estimates are acknowledged to be rough and out of date, but the total estimated population is 4,150–7,350. However, the global snow leopard effective population size (those likely to reproduce) is suspected to be fewer than 2,500 (50% of the total population, or 2,040–3,295).
