Alice Wells hails Pakistan, Uzbekistan for conservation of snow leopards

ISLAMABAD: United States (US) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells Wednesday hailed the wildlife scientists of Pakistan and Uzbekistan for conservation of the rare snow leopards. "Excited to see snow leopards on tracking cameras, thanks to wildlife conservation scientists from Pakistan to Uzbekistan -- a positive sign their populations are rebounding," Wells posted on Twitter. Wells said the United States would continue to support conservation of ‘our planet’s most threatened species". The snow leopard, a large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia, is listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list. The global population of snow leopards is estimated to less than 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline around 10 percent by 2040. In Pakistan, the snow leopard is found in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir with an estimated population of around 200-420, according to the Snow Leopard Trust.