First Draft

Snow leopards are some of the most shy animals on Earth, but recently researchers have
found that theres loads more of them than we thought. Theyre known as the ghost of the
mountain as their habitats are so vast we rarely see them. These big cats live in central
Asia, their habitat spanning countries like Russia, China, Tibet and India, where its snowy
and mountainous. Their habitat is a whopping 1.8 million square kilometres, 65% of that
being their habitat in China alone.

There are now thought to be around 4,000 snow leopards surviving in the wild, but
research shows that between 221 and 450 snow leopards have been poached yearly
since 2008. Other threats to snow leopards include loss of their prey to humans, loss of
their habitat due to a rising human population, not being camouflaged due to climate
change and lack of snow, and local people killing them in retaliation to snow leopards
killing their livestock. 55% of snow leopards are thought to be killed in retaliation by
farmers, and 21% of snow leopards are hunted for their beautiful coats.

It is very hard to tell how many snow leopards there actually are in the wild as they are so
elusive - but new technology like camera traps and tracking collars gives us a much better
idea. And with this tech, researchers have found that there are many more snow leopards
than we previously thought! People actually found so many of them that theyre no longer
classified as endangered for the first time in 45 years!

Charities like the WWF, the Snow Leopard Trust and Panthera are doing important
conservational work to help snow leopard numbers rise. This includes educating local
people, encouraging nature tourism, vaccinating farmers livestock and setting up border
patrols to stop illegal smuggling. This work is essential as although snow leopards have
been moved up from endangered to vulnerable, they are still very much at risk, and the
number of wild snow leopards are still declining, just not at the rate previously thought.

But the future for these beautiful big cats isnt all bad, as they are so rarely seen that we
could find even more of them in the near future. And through analysing the DNA in the
snow leopards dung, there is new evidence to suggest there may even be 3 sub-species
of snow leopard, so this is a story to watch!

If you want to get involved and help snow leopards, you can adopt one through the WWF
or go and see them at a local zoo. What better way to support them than to see them up
close?