Abstract: The author describes the lot of extinct and endangered mammal species inhabitants of various continents. Over the last 2,000 years, on the territory now occupied by the USSR, 11 species and sub-species of mammals died away and several dozens of species and sub-species are now endangered or rare and require special conservation measures. Big Felidae species include tiger (150 170 animals), leopard (38-48 animals, of which 20-25 permanently live in the Far East, the rest migrating), snow leopard, whose population reduced drastically (about 1,000 animals), caracal, Central Asia lynx, and manul.

Abstract: The National strategy and action plan of the Republic of Uzbekistan was signed on April 1, 1998. Snow leopard was included in the list of rare and endangered animal species and referred to category 2 a rare, not endangered species. It is distributed in highlands of the West Tien Shan and Pamiro-Alay. Its population is 30-50 animals. Snow leopard is protected in the Chatkal, Gissar nature reserve, and Ugam-Chatkal national park.

Abstract: In the 1960s, the endangered snow leopard was locally extirpated from the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) region of Nepal. In this Sherpa-inhabited high Himalaya, the flourishing tourism since the ascent of Mt Everest in 1953, has caused both prosperity and adverse impacts, the concern that catalyzed the establishment of Mt. Everest National Park in the region in 1976. In the late 1980s, there were reports that some transient snow leopards may have visited the area from adjoining Tibet, but no biological surveys exist to confirm the status of the cats and their prey. Have snow leopards finally returned to the top of the world? Exploring this question was the main purpose of this research project. We systematically walked altogether 24 sign transects covering over 13 km in length in three valleys, i.e. Namche, Phortse and Gokyo, of the park, and counted several snow leopard signs. The results indicated that snow leopards have made a comeback in the park in response to decades of protective measures, the virtual cessation of hunting and the recovery of the Himalayan tahr which is snow leopard's prey. The average sign density (4.2 signs/km and 2.5 sign sites/km) was comparable to that reported from other parts of the cats' range in the Himalaya. On this basis, we estimated the cat density in the Everest region between 1 to 3 cats per 100 sq km, a figure that was supported by different sets of pugmarks and actual sightings of snow leopards in the 60 km2 sample survey area. In the study area, tahr population had a low reproductive rate (e.g. kids-to-females ratio, 0.1, in Namche). Since predators can influence the size and the structure of prey species populations through mortality and through non-lethal effects or predation risk, snow leopards could have been the cause of the population dynamics of tahr in Sagarmtha, but this study could not confirm this speculation for which further probing may be required.

Abstract: Since 1999, NABU, the German Society for Nature Conservation, has been organizing the conservation of snow leopards Uncia uncia in Kyrgyzstan in an international project in cooperation with the Kyrgyz Ministry of the Environment, Emergencies and Civil Defence and the Kyrgyz Ministry of the Interior. The animal, with its typical grey-beige patterned fur and bushy tail, is one of the most endangered big cats in the world. It is categorized as Endangered on the 2000 IUCN Red List and is on CITES Appendix I.

Abstract: 224 animal species, including two relict and 20 endemic, are registered in the Besh Aral nature reserve (Kyrgyzstan). This nature reserve is inhabited by rare and endangered animal and bird species (e.g. Menzbier's marmot, snow leopard, Tien Shan brown bear, manul, Turkistan lynx, saker falcon, bearded vulture, golden eagle, Himalayan griffon, and others) included in the Red Data Books of Kyrgyzstan, former USSR, and Led List of IUCN.