India’s elusive snow leopards snapped in key survey

India’s elusive snow leopards snapped in key survey
by AFP Staff Writers
New Delhi (AFP) Jan 31, 2024

Snow leopards have been dubbed the “ghosts of the mountains” for their elusive behaviour, but Indian researchers have successfully photographed more than 200 in a landmark study estimating at least 718 across the country.

The mammoth five-year survey, the first nationwide review of snow leopards in India, monitored 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 square miles) of their remote mountain habitat, according to the environment ministry.

It involved setting out camera traps in nearly 2,000 locations recording more than 180,000 nights — the equivalent to nearly 500 years — to record 241 individual leopards on camera.

The leopards — with thick grey fur dotted with dark spots, and large paws that act as natural snow shoes — are “masters of stealth and camouflage”, according to the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) India, who assisted the assessment.

The environment ministry said the survey has “significantly increased understanding” of the rare creatures, Indian media reported Wednesday.

Snow leopards, scientific name panthera uncia, are listed as “vulnerable” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Before the survey, the WWF had suggested that there were between 400-700 snow leopards in India. The report now puts the total number in the upper range of earlier estimates.

Two-thirds of the cats are found in India’s far northern Ladakh, with the rest in Himalayan states including Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the survey found.

“Consistent monitoring is essential to ensuring snow leopards’ long-term survival,” the environment ministry added.

The Snow Leopard Trust, a US-based conservation group, says the exact total number is not known but that “there may be as few as 3,920 and probably no more than 6,390” across 12 countries in Asia.

The IUCN has dubbed the solitary cat the “ghost of the mountains” for its ability to hide, noting numbers are “decreasing mostly due to habitat loss, poaching, and the impacts of climate change”.

Australia scientists pluck rare handfish from ocean due to climate risk
Sydney (AFP) Jan 31, 2024 –
Scientists have collected 25 extremely rare red handfish from the ocean off Australia, hoping to protect the struggling species from warming seas, human-caused habitat changes and ravenous urchins.

Only about 100 red handfish — which have the appearance of a crimson and brown goldfish with stubby arms and webbed hands — are left in the wild, living in a small section of reef off southeast Tasmania.

About eight centimetres (three inches) long, they “walk” along the sea floor on their pectoral and pelvic fins rather than swimming.

But overgrazing urchins, run-off from urban areas, disturbances from boats and rising sea temperatures have resulted in “severe habitat loss and degradation”, according to the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.

Scientists at the institute recently made the difficult and risky decision to take dozens of the fish out of the wild for safekeeping.

“This summer has already well exceeded previous temperature maximums,” said marine scientist Jemina Stuart-Smith.

“We can only assume that this additional stressor will impact the already fragile population,” she said.

On Wednesday, scientists said the 25 specimens were doing well in their temporary aquarium homes and were being closely monitored for stress or ill health.

“We have highly experienced staff looking after the fish seven days a week, and a 24-hour call-out roster,” said the institute’s Andrew Trotter.

“We believe they are quite safe with us — but there is certainly a feeling of heightened responsibility among our team, given how small the wild population is.”

Trotter and his colleagues are hoping to return the fish to their natural habitat when temperatures drop with the onset of the austral winter in June.

Sea temperatures off Australia have been increasing steadily since records began at the beginning of the 1900s.

Experts believe the change is being fuelled by the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

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