Non-boring policy article

Although the Snow Leopard Trust works with national governments to build better protective measures for snow leopard, it’s normally hard to talk about in a non-snoozefest way. But we have awesome information out of India that is very exciting.

India just ratified “Project Snow Leopard.” It’s a nationwide plan to protect the Indian Himalayas–a treasure trove of unique wildlife–using the snow leopard as a focal species. Let’s look at this more closely. Why is this cool? For starters, CI named the Himalayas as a biodiversity hotspot, that means it’s one of “the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth.” The Himalayas are home to at least 350 species of mammals and 1,200 species of birds. The waterlands and grasslands that support these species are vitally important for humans as well.

Cut to the part about snow leopards: turns out there are 26 protected areas in the Himalayas where snow leopards have been reported. This is definitely a case of “Save the Snow Leopard, Save the World” (yes, that’s an homage to HEROES).