Month: August 2007

August 1, 2007- Pakistan’s Federal Minister for the Environment Faisal Saleh Hayat, after spending much of last week in the US capital and taking care to stay away from the Pakistani press based here, has surfaced in the Bronx zoo, where, according to an official press release, he met Leo the snow leopard.

While nothing is known about Leo’s reaction, the minister is said to have been “delighted”. Leo was gifted to the Bronx zoo last year. He has not been short of distinguished visitors from the home country, having been visited by Begum Pervez Musharraf a month after his arrival and the minister of state for the environment, Malik Amin Aslam, not much later.

Leo, who was found in the care of a shepherd in the Northern Areas’ Natar Valley, was flown to New York in August 2006 under an agreement signed between the Northern Areas administration and the Wildlife Conservation Society of USA. He may be returned to Pakistan a few years from now, hopefully with a she snow leopard.

Source: The Daily Times

In the remote Ladakh region of India, the “Himalayan Homestays” program offers an alternate source of income to residents whose livestock is sometimes threatened by snow leopard predation. Himalayan Homestays give tourists the opportunity to experience firsthand the traditional lifestyle of the villagers in Ladakh, while the income they generate relieves the financial stress of livestock loss and therefore decreases the incentive for villagers to kill snow leopards.

The Mountain Institute and Snow Leopard Conservancy, both organizational members of the Snow Leopard Network, implemented this program to great success five years ago. Since then, it has become the local model for eco-tourism. In addition to providing a bed and meals, guides are available to lead hikes and point out snow leopard signs.

For more information, see Eco-tourists take to village life in India’s ‘Little Tibet’ or check out the Himalayan Homestays web site.