Snow Leopard Conservation Efforts Endangered by COVID-19
2020-05-01
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1Wild animal experts say increasing reports of snow leopard sightings in Pakistan show that conservation efforts there are working.
2But the COVID-19 crisis is threatening the success of the effort in the northern mountains.
3The nonprofit Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization (BWCDO) has worked for more than 20 years to save the endangered cats.
4The BWCDO partners with several American charities on the effort.
5About 8,000 snow leopards are believed to exist in the wild.
6Fewer than 400 of them live in Pakistan, mostly in the Gilgit-Baltistan area.
7The BWCDO is working with the local population to help protect the species, including setting up insurance systems to pay farmers whose animals are attacked by snow leopards.
8Ghulam Muhammad leads the organization.
9 He says it is working with the United States-based Iqra Fund on conservation education programs for Gilgit-Baltistan communities.
10But the new coronavirus pandemic has affected financial support for these projects.
11Ghulam Muhammad said this may be harmful to the snow leopard conservation campaign.
12Last month, BWCDO and The White Lion Foundation (TWLF) of Britain released a video of the call of a wild snow leopard in Pakistan's Karakoram mountains.
13John Knight from TWLF said, "The adult male is exercising his vocal calls to establish territory and to let females know he is in the area."
14Knight added that the video is "extremely unusual" because snow leopards are naturally private creatures.
15They only come together to mate and raise their young.
16Ghulam Muhammad said the video was recorded in February by cameras set up to observe the wild snow leopard population in the area.
17His team reported seeing a mother cat and her two young the following month.
18The BWCDO leader said, "A mother and two cubs, especially so late in the season, tells us that snow leopard numbers are growing and that our method of creating a means for local communities to benefit from conservation are at the very least promising, and at best, successful."
19BWCDO is helping villagers build secure barriers to reduce snow leopard attacks.
20The organization also provides farm animal vaccination programs to reduce loss.
21Researchers say the BWCDO's work has helped protect and conserve a population of large wild goats called markhors.
22They also live in the high mountains of northern Pakistan.
23Snow leopards hunt markhors. If there are enough markhors, the big cats will be less likely to kill farm animals for food.
24The U.S.-based Snow Leopard Conservancy also has been an important financial supporter of the BWCDO.
25Current projects are supported through the end of this year.
26But, Ghulam Muhammad noted, no one knows what might happen with financial needs after 2020.
27An estimated 3,650 snow leopards were killed over the last 10 years.
28In many cases the killers were illegal hunters involved in the trade of animal skins and other body parts.
29However, The White Lion Foundation says more than half were killed in answer to snow leopard attacks on farm animals.
30I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Wild animal experts say increasing reports of snow leopard sightings in Pakistan show that conservation efforts there are working. 2But the COVID-19 crisis is threatening the success of the effort in the northern mountains. The nonprofit Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization (BWCDO) has worked for more than 20 years to save the endangered cats. The BWCDO partners with several American charities on the effort. 3About 8,000 snow leopards are believed to exist in the wild. Fewer than 400 of them live in Pakistan, mostly in the Gilgit-Baltistan area. The BWCDO is working with the local population to help protect the species, including setting up insurance systems to pay farmers whose animals are attacked by snow leopards. 4Ghulam Muhammad leads the organization. He says it is working with the United States-based Iqra Fund on conservation education programs for Gilgit-Baltistan communities. 5But the new coronavirus pandemic has affected financial support for these projects. Ghulam Muhammad said this may be harmful to the snow leopard conservation campaign. 6Last month, BWCDO and The White Lion Foundation (TWLF) of Britain released a video of the call of a wild snow leopard in Pakistan's Karakoram mountains. 7John Knight from TWLF said, "The adult male is exercising his vocal calls to establish territory and to let females know he is in the area." 8Knight added that the video is "extremely unusual" because snow leopards are naturally private creatures. They only come together to mate and raise their young. 9Ghulam Muhammad said the video was recorded in February by cameras set up to observe the wild snow leopard population in the area. His team reported seeing a mother cat and her two young the following month. 10The BWCDO leader said, "A mother and two cubs, especially so late in the season, tells us that snow leopard numbers are growing and that our method of creating a means for local communities to benefit from conservation are at the very least promising, and at best, successful." 11BWCDO is helping villagers build secure barriers to reduce snow leopard attacks. The organization also provides farm animal vaccination programs to reduce loss. 12Researchers say the BWCDO's work has helped protect and conserve a population of large wild goats called markhors. They also live in the high mountains of northern Pakistan. 13Snow leopards hunt markhors. If there are enough markhors, the big cats will be less likely to kill farm animals for food. 14The U.S.-based Snow Leopard Conservancy also has been an important financial supporter of the BWCDO. Current projects are supported through the end of this year. But, Ghulam Muhammad noted, no one knows what might happen with financial needs after 2020. 15An estimated 3,650 snow leopards were killed over the last 10 years. In many cases the killers were illegal hunters involved in the trade of animal skins and other body parts. However, The White Lion Foundation says more than half were killed in answer to snow leopard attacks on farm animals. 16I'm Jonathan Evans. 17Ayaz Gul reported on this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 18________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20benefit - v. to be useful or profitable to 21insurance - n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something such as a house or car if it is damaged, lost, or stolen 22means - n. something that helps a person to get what he or she wants 23vocal - adj. of, relating to, or produced by the voice