News Highlight
Wildlife officials in Arunachal Pradesh await the results of a survey to ascertain the presence of the snow leopard in the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Key Takeaway
- The snow leopard has never been spotted nor recorded in the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve in the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Snow leopard
- About
- The snow leopard is a felid in the genus Panthera native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia.
- Scientific Name: Panthera uncia
- Habitat:
- Mountainous regions of central and southern Asia.
- China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia & Mongolia.
- In India:
- Western Himalayas: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh.
- Eastern Himalayas: Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Mountainous regions of central and southern Asia.
- Diet:
- Carnivore and hunt blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, pikas, hares, etc.
- Features:
- One of the world’s most elusive cats, perfectly equipped to thrive in extreme, high-elevation habitats.
- Insulated with thick white-grey coats spotted with large black rosettes and wide, fur-covered feet, they act as natural snowshoes. The tail helps in balancing and also covers the body while sleeping.
- Threats:
- Increased conflict due to the expansion of human settlement and livestock grazing.
- Poaching for trade in body parts and fur.
- Climate change and shrinkage in habitat.
- Protection Status:
- IUCN: Vulnerable
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- CITES: Appendix I
Conservation Efforts by India:
- Flagship species:
- The Government of India has identified the snow leopard as a flagship species for the high altitude Himalayas.
- The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection:
- India has also been part of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection (GSLEP) Programme since 2013.
- HimalSanrakshak:
- It is a community volunteer programme to protect snow leopards, launched in 2020.
- SECURE Himalaya:
- The SECURE Himalaya project is a part of the “Global Partnership on Wildlife Conservation and Crime Prevention for Sustainable Development” (Global Wildlife Program).
- Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded the project.
- Project Snow Leopard:
- It was launched in 2009 to promote an inclusive and participatory approach to conserving snow leopards and their habitat.
- Breeding programme:
- Snow Leopard conservation breeding programme is undertaken at Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Namdapha National Park
- About
- The Namdapha National Park is located in Arunachal Pradesh’s Changlang district. It is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas.
- Features:
- Namdapha National Park is India’s fourth-largest national park by area.
- Namdapha is located on the international border between India and Myanmar, along the raging Noa-Dihing River.
- Unique feature:
- It is the world’s only park with the four feline species of big cat
- The Tiger (Panthera Tigris)
- Leopard (Panthera Pardus)
- Snow Leopard (Panthera Uncia)
- Clouded Leopard (Neofelis Nebulosa)
- It is the world’s only park with the four feline species of big cat
- Species:
- The park is home to a variety of primate species, including the Assamese macaque, pig-tailed macaque, stump-tailed macaque, and a large number of the distinctive Hoolock Gibbons (Hylobates Hoolock), India’s only “ape” species.
Content Source: The Hindu