WWF urges support for the Snow Leopard

The WWF has had plenty of celebrity support over its 50 years ranging from David Attenborough to Leona Lewis, and now they’re launching their latest campaign.

The WWF say, “Snow leopard populations have declined by 20 per cent in the last two decades.  WWF has launched a new snow leopard adoption scheme, in order to help protect the endangered species.”

The scheme launched earlier this week to support WWF’s ongoing work to preserve the species’ habitat and prevent the risk of poaching.

It is currently estimated that there are as few as 4,000-6,500 snow leopards living in the wild in the mountain regions of Asia. Poachers hunt them for their fur and to sell their bones for use in traditional Asian medicines, while local farmers sometimes kill them to protect livestock.

John Barker, Species Programme Manager at WWF-UK says, “Snow leopards prefer steep, broken terrain such as mountainsides, cliffs, rocky outcrops and ravines so they are especially difficult to monitor, however it is vital that we continue to track their progress and work with local communities, in order to ensure the species is protected for generations to come.”

WWF’s adoption pack will help fund conservation work with local governments and local communities, as well as supporting the work of TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade and monitoring network) to prevent the illegal trade in snow leopards and their body parts.  Funds will also support research and monitoring of snow leopard behaviour, their ranges and population group size.

The WWF adoption scheme will support a group of snow leopards currently comprising 10 individuals, located in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area in the Himalayas of north eastern Nepal.

ATV’s celebrity agony aunt Queenie tells us, “When ATV asked me to throw my showbiz weight – its about as heavy as Rik ‘whatever happened to him’ Waller – behind the latest WWF snow leotard campaign, I thought it must be some mistake and they really needed fashion advice from Mary Queen of Shops.” However she adds, “But when I discovered it wasn’t a fashion crisis, but something that will get me some grace with animal lovers I had to jump at the chance.”

Endorsing the ATV support for this cause by promoting it here today, Queenie says, “Christmas is a time to think of others, and that should include animals. So instead of spending your money on a huge bird that you’ll only stuff and nibble on for one day of the year and leave the rest for the dog, instead why not support one of these big pussies, are they big pussies? I don’t know but they look nice.”

Click here to find out more about supporting this important wildlife cause.