CLIMATE FIGHT WILL SAVE SNOW LEOPARD

Snow leopards at risk as Himalayas face climate change 'crisis'; Warming temperatures could cause over a third of the endangered big cats’ habitat to become uninhabitable, conservationists have warned

23 October 2015 (The Guardian)

“More than a third of the snow leopard’s mountain habitat could become uninhabitable for the endangered big cat because of climate change, conservationists have warned…Warming temperatures could cause the tree line to shift up the mountains and cause farmers to plant crops and graze livestock at higher altitudes, squeezing the snow leopards into smaller ranges where they are more likely to come into conflict with humans…Conflict with communities in the high mountains of central Asia, who see the leopards as a threat to livestock and human lives, along with poaching, habitat loss and a reduction in numbers of prey have seen numbers of the ‘ghost of the mountains’ fall 20% in 16 years…[W]ith numbers as low as 4,000, snow leopards would face increasing pressure from climate change, which could reduce them to unsustainable numbers…” click here for more

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