The mysterious snow leopard has been delivered a piece of good news. The Red List classification from the International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCN - improves the conservation status of the big cat from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable.” As these iconic symbols of Asia's great mountain wilderness still face numerous threats, many rapidly growing, in their high mountain home, this down-listing raised a controversy among snow leopard conservationists. In a statement the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), a leading conservation organisation working to protect this cat, opposes the IUCN's decision to change the snow leopard's Red List status from 'Endangered' to 'Vulnerable'.
Snow leopard in Mongolia.
Image credit SLCF Mongolia / Snow Leopard Trust
The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) was listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ - the globally accepted, international standard for assessing extinction risk - for each 5-10 year assessment since its initial listing in 1972. The change in status came after a three-year assessment process by five international experts including scientists from academia and from Panthera, Snow Leopard Conservancy, and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), organisations active in snow leopard conservation. The assessment was then reviewed and approved by eight international felid and Red List assessments experts, the IUCN Global Mammal Assessment team, and the central Red List Unit.
Dr. Tom McCarthy, Executive Director of Panthera's Snow Leopard Program and a member of the assessment team, said, “To be considered 'Endangered,' there must be less than 2,500 mature snow leopards and they must be experiencing a high rate of decline. Both are now considered extremely unlikely, which is the good news, but it does not mean that snow leopards are 'safe' or that now is a time to celebrate.”
The species still faces 'a high risk of extinction in the wild' and is likely still declining - just not at the rate previously thought.Dr. Tom McCarthy, Executive Director of Panthera's Snow Leopard Program
The assessment cites a number of recent studies that used more scientifically robust methods than in the past and which suggest snow leopard numbers are likely higher than previously thought. Dr. Rodney Jackson, Founder and Director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC) and another member of the assessment team, said, “Even with such positive supportive information, the assessment team took a conservative approach, including using the lowest estimated global population size of 4,000 when determining if the Endangered threshold could be met.”
One of the reasons that snow leopard status has improved is greatly increased conservation efforts. Dr. David Mallon, snow leopard expert and member of the assessment team, points out that in the last few decades there has been a significant increase in the number of protected areas within the snow leopard range. The species range is extensive, and covers more than 1.8 million km2 of mountain habitat in 12 range countries across Asia. Dr. Jackson stressed that local initiatives such as community ranger monitoring efforts and the building of predator-proof corrals to control conflict over livestock losses are helping to protect the cats from retaliatory killing in many locations.
The snow leopard is the top predator of the world's greatest mountain chains - the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Tien Shan, Altai, and other mountain regions of Asia. Unfortunately, even in these near-inaccessible mountains, the snow leopard faces numerous threats.
“Continuing threats include poaching for its thick fur and overhunting of its wild prey,” said Peter Zahler, Coordinator of the WCS Snow Leopard Program and also on the assessment team. “There is also an increasing number of domestic livestock raised by local people in these high mountains that degrades the delicate grasslands, disturbs wild sheep and goats and drives them into less productive habitats.” Zahler pointed out that this can also lead to disease outbreaks in wild sheep and goats due to transmission of novel pathogens from their domestic counterparts. “The loss of wild prey can lead to attacks on domestic stock, which itself can lead to retaliatory killing of snow leopards by local shepherds,” Zahler said.
Rare footage of wild snow leopards in Tost, Mongolia.
This footage, taken by remote-sensor research cameras, reveals a vibrant population of these endangered cats in the remote Tost mountain range in Mongolia's South Gobi province - including a mother with two cubs.
(Source: Snow Leopard Trust YouTube channel)
Zahler added, “It is important that a change in status is not misinterpreted - this change does not mean that the snow leopard has been 'saved' and efforts on its behalf can stop. The IUCN's Vulnerable status means a species is still vulnerable to extinction, and the snow leopard population is still believed to be in decline and facing a high risk of extinction. Threats - poaching, habitat destruction, loss of prey species - still exist and new threats such as roads, border fences, and climate change, are increasing. So conservation actions must continue and be increased to conserve the species.”
The Snow Leopard Trust agrees with the assessment that major threats still exist, and adds one that, strangely enough, has been omitted by the assessment team - climate change. SLT states that the threats to snow leopard survival are increasing still, including climate change that threatens two-thirds of snow leopard habitat. Further to this conservationists at SLT believe the best available science does not justify the down-listing, and that it could have serious consequences for the species.
The IUCNs guidelines make it clear that any status assessment should follow a precautionary approach. If the best available data aren't conclusive, no down-listing should be done. In the case of the snow leopard, less than 2% of the species' range has ever been sampled for abundance using reliable techniques, and those data are biased toward high-density areas. The new assessment behind the status change of the snow leopard does not improve on this data and appears to use methodologies - such as asking people how many snow leopards they think exist in any area - that are not recognized as scientifically valid for estimating populations. In addition, demographic modelling based on the limited solid data that is available actually showed results in favour of an Endangered listing.
Therefore SLT thinks the status change is unjustified and detrimental to the conservation of the snow leopard.
(Source: WCS press release, 14.09.2017; SLT news release, 14.09.2017)
