Abstract: The woman in the picture is wrapped in a luxurious fur coat and hat. The distinctly spotted pelt is that of a snow leopard -- that elusive and endangered species found in the mountains of central and south Asia. “A coat like that would probably cost $60,000-$80,000 in a big shop,” said Dr Rodney Jackson at a presentation he made recently on the status of his favorite subject. “Fortunately, changing norms of the fashion world and increasing consumer awareness (mean that) fewer people are wearing snow leopard pelts,” noted Dr Jackson, Conservation Director of the International Snow Leopard Trust. Still, the threat of extinction persists, he warns. “The demand for fur may have gone down but the demand for bones and body parts as marketable items for use in traditional Chinese medicine has gone up.” Further, conflict with humans is rapidly becoming the single most important issue, he said.

Abstract: Snow leopard conservation work in Bhutan dates back to 1999 and 2000 when the International Snow Leopard Trust-in collaboration with the Royal Government of Bhutan and World Wildlife Fund-initiated a training workshop. More than 30 government staff were trained in SLIMS survey techniques. As a part of the training exercise, a preliminary survey on snow leopard was also carried out using the SLIMS methods in Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Park. Based on the survey results, we estimated there was a population of 100 snow leopards in the wild and 10,000 km2 of habitat. In 2005, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) organized the WWF/South Asia Regional Workshop on Snow leopard Conservation in Bhutan. Both regional (Bhutan, India, China, Nepal and Pakistan) and international experts revisited the snow leopard programs and developed a work plan for the overall conservation of the snow leopard in the region. This led to WWF's Regional Snow leopard Conservation Strategy. WWF is pleased to submit our final report to the International Snow Leopard Trust on the oneyear, $8,000 grant in support of Snow Leopard and Prey Population Conservation in Bhutan. With the support of the Snow Leopard Trust, we have made great strides towards achieving our goal for this project: To determine the current status of snow leopard and ungulate prey populations in prime snow leopard habitats. Major accomplishments and activities completed thanks to the generous support of the International Snow Leopard Trust include:
 Signed of a Terms of Reference between Royal Government, International Snow Leopard
Trust – India, World Wildlife Fund and International Snow Leopard Trust -US;
 Developed a joint revised project work plan; and
 Purchased basic field supplies and equipment needed for the surveys planned.

Abstract: Of the many problems facing the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan after the break-up of the USSR, poaching of endandered animals is of particular concern. Everything is up for sale through the black market, networks of acquaintances, middlemen or even advertisements in the newspapers: horns, skins, mounted trophies, animal parts for traditional medicine. Interest in snow leopard and Turkestan lynx (Lynx lynx isabellinus Blyth), and skins and horns from mountain sheep and goats sharply increased in 1992-93, and prices grew unusually high.

Abstract: The most vulnerable key areas within the snow leopard habitat are East Kazakhstan (an area of 48,000 square km) with no protected areas network established, and South Siberia (131,000 square km), where snow leopard is protected in three nature reserves. These areas are distant from main part of the habitat, isolated and have more extreme conditions. In Central Asia's key area (213,000 square km) linked to a main Chinese-Afghani part of the habitat, snow leopard was found in 11 nature reserves and two national parks. For reliable protection of this species it would be expedient to strengthen the role of the mountain nature reserves by means of extension and amalgamation of the areas, and other measures.

Abstract: Considerable efforts have been devoted to conserving the snow leopard Panthera uncia in recent years, but progress has inevitably been slow due to the difficulties of studying a sparsely distributed, secretive and endangered species in often isolated mountainous terrain. Although knowledge about the species overall distribution in the highlands of Central Asia still remains fragmenatry, it is important to briefly examine all the available information in order to review measures taken to date to conserve the species through the protected areas network. The purpose of this paper is to examine the distribution and status of protected areas inhabited or visited by snow leopard in relation to the species' distribution and highlight deficiences in the present network.

Abstract: The first observation of the occurrence of multiple ocular coloboma (MOC) in a snow leopard was reported in the International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards Volume I in 1978 (1). The lesions in this syndrome consist of coloboma of the upper eye lid and uveal coloboma of the globe. Even colobomatous retinal cysts and retinal dysplasia have been noted. The ethiology of in all ten cases of MOC in the snow leopards kept at the Helsinki Zoo were described and discussed in detail in Volume II of the International Pedigree Book of Snow Leopards (2,3). Three cases of MOC in the snow leopards kept at Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, Ne., have been described by Phillips (4), one case is known of in Amsterdam (van Bree, personal communication), and two cases in Zoo Zurich (Isenbugel and Weilenmann, pers. comm.) The ethiology of the defect is still not known although various theories ranging from genetic to exogenous factors have been presented.

Abstract: Bibliography of the Snow Leopard included publications on the studying various questions of ecology and conservation of the Snow Leopard in Central Asia (305) for the period 1873 to 2004. The most important works on this species in the region, as well as results of the analysis of timing of publications was described.

Abstract: The snow leopard inhabits a huge range of territory which encompasses some of Central Asia's most bleak and inhospitable terrains. The animal herders in these regions are desperately poor and yet they have agreed to cooperate with conservation groups in protecting the snow leopard. The World Wildlife Foundation has worked to create a refuge on the Pakistan-China border. Sheep herders near Askole, a village in the Baltistan region of northern Paksitan, drive their flocks past stone enclosures. The area is also home to snow leopards. With their natural prey dminished, leopards in 13 countries of central Asia occasionally feed on livestock, putting the cats on a collision course with mountain peoples.

Abstract: A snow leopard project is underway to study snow leopards in Mongolia. The project, called the Mongolian-American Snow Leopard Project, involves the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Mongolian Association for the Conservation of Nature and Environment, the National Geographic Society, the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and the Environment, the U.S. National Biological Service, and the International Snow Leopard Trust. The objective of the study is to survey the distribution and status of Mongolia's snow leopards, including those living in the Gobi Desert. klf.

Abstract: Snow leopards live in the mountains of Central Asia, their range stretching from Afganastan to Lake Baikal in Eastern Tibet. They are endangered throughout their range, being hunted as predators of mains livestock and for their skin. Much of the snow leopards range lies in China, but not enough is known about its staus there for effective conservation. As part of a project to assess China's high altitude wildlife resources the authors conducted a survey in Xinjiang- a vast arid region of deserts and mountains. Although the snow leopard and other wildlife have declined steeply in Xinjiang in recent decades, the cta still persists and one area has the potential to become one of the best refuges for the species in its entire range. Its future in XInjiang, howevere, depends on well protected reserves, enforcement of regulations against killing the animal, and proper managemnt of the prey species.