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| WCS: a snow leopard marks territory |
If you look at a map of Afghanistan, perhaps before you pack your backpack and helmet, there is a narrow spike of land or salient that juts deep into China between Pakistan and Turkistan. That is the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region created by imperial map drawers that has a population of about 12,000 and is known for its abundant wildlife. There is no modern road through the Corridor, only historical trade routes to China that have been closed to traffic for a hundred years. Marco Polo traversed the Wakhan, and at the turn of the last century, as many as 100 pony loads crossed annually to China. The United States has asked China to reopen the Corridor so it can chase Taliban in the region more easily. China has resisted re-opening the area probably because of unrest in the bordering province of Xinjiang. While human activity is kept to a minimum, wildlife has thrived.
A survey of the Wakhan by the Wildlife Conservation Society has found snow leopards in 16 different locations, the first photographic record of snow leopards in Afghanistan. Snow leopards are endangered of course, threatened by retaliatory killing for livestock predation and the fur and pet trades. The population of the elusive felines is roughly estimated between 4500 to 7500 surviving in the wild. Their numbers have dropped about 20% over the last 16 years despite living among the highest mountains in Asia. WCS is preparing an integrated management plan that includes training rangers and a livestock insurance fund to insure a future for these solitary, beautiful cats.
