Record Cache of Snow Leopard Parts Seized in China

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Record Cache of Snow Leopard Parts Seized in China

Kelly Hearn

for National Geographic News

September 10, 2007

 

The pelts of 27 snow leopards were recently seized

from a black market trader in China. The record bust

highlights the menacing threat to one of the world's

most endangered cats, experts say.

 

Acting on a tip, agents from China's State Forestry

Administration raided an apartment in western China

last month, according to state media.

 

Police arrested the fur trader, identified only as Mr.

Ma, after discovering the cache of pelts, along with

104 bear skins and parts of clouded leopards and lynx.

 

 

" Police found three snow leopard heads and two snow

leopard skeletons in the raid, " Ge Yun, of the

China-based nonprofit Xinjiang Conservation Fund

(XCF), told National Geographic News.

 

The seizure is reportedly the largest haul of leopard

pelts since Chinese officials began keeping records in

1949.

 

An official with China's State Forest Administration,

who identified himself as Mr. Li, confirmed the

arrests in a telephone interview but declined to offer

details.

 

" The snow leopard is endangered, and the government is

working very hard to protect it, " he said.

 

Elusive, Valuable Cat

 

An elusive cat with short front limbs, large paws, and

elongated hind legs, the snow leopard is able to

traverse snowy mountain terrain, scrubland, grassland,

and steppes.

 

Its range includes the rugged lands of South and

Central Asia—including parts of China, India and

Nepal—where its skin and bones are sought for garments

and traditional remedies (see map).

 

In harsh, politically unstable regions within the

animal's range, a single snow leopard pelt can mean a

small fortune.

 

Mr. Ma, for example, told police he bought the pelts

in Tibet and the northwestern province of Qinghai last

year.

 

He had since sold two for a profit of 4,000 yuan (U.S.

$530), according to news reports.

 

The illicit traffic in pelts has been the main culprit

in the snow leopard's decline, conservation groups

say, and activists have called for stronger

multinational enforcement of wildlife laws.

 

According to one estimate, only 3,000 to 7,000 of the

cats remain in the wild.

 

Changing Threats

 

The dynamics of pelt- and animal-smuggling in the

region are changing gradually amid increased law

enforcement and redoubled efforts by conservation

groups and religious leaders to change traditional

attitudes.

 

But the black market remains.

 

In 2005, XCF published an investigation on the

poaching and illicit trade of snow leopards in

Xinjiang Province in northwestern China.

 

" We found that the trade in skins in India, Nepal, and

China targets markets in Tibet and Sichuan, " XCF's Yun

said.

 

Tibetans are known for wearing coats of tiger,

leopard, and snow leopard skin, displaying them during

a traditional horse festival in the town of Litang in

Sichuan Province.

 

" There, local skin dealers buy big cat pelts from the

[nearby] Gansu Province, " Yun said.

 

She and others have been encouraged by the recent

efforts of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled Buddhist

leader, who has asked followers to stop using,

selling, or buying wild animals and their derivatives.

 

 

Conservationists who recently visited the Litang horse

festival saw positive signs, Yun said.

 

" They were very happy to see that not one single wild

animal skin was used, " she said.

 

But in Gansu Province, near where Mr. Ma was arrested

and where the majority population is Muslim, attitudes

are still fixed.

 

" There, cat-skin sales are still rampant, " Yun said,

adding that her group is planning to write a series of

conservation documents that draw from the Koran.

 

" We would like to convince the local spiritual leader

of Muslims to give teachings on wildlife

conservation, " she said.

 

Beyond Attitudes

 

Other experts say threats to the big cats go beyond

the demand for skins. Instead, shrinking habitats and

dwindling prey are putting snow leopards in disastrous

contact with farmers, they point out.

 

" Poaching still is a threat to the [leopard]

population in Tibet, " said Dawa Tsering of the

conservation nonprofit WWF in China.

 

" However, the root cause of poaching is not because of

skin trade but human-wildlife conflict. "

 

Habitat fragmentation and declines in the numbers of

wild goat and sheep—the snow leopard's natural

prey—are forcing cats to attack domestic livestock,

conservationists say.

 

The result has been an increase in what Tsering called

" reprisal killings " by farmers and herders.

 

Even so, Tsering said, officials in Tibet have made

gains in cracking down on poachers.

 

" In general, large-scale illegal poaching has been

stopped by the government, " he said.

 

" The Tibet local government invests large resources to

protect wildlife that includes Tibetan antelope and

snow leopard. "

 

(Read related story: " Tibet's 'Movie Star' Antelope

Slowly Rebounding, Expedition Finds " [February 6,

2007].)

 

He said police stations are frequently found across

remote wildlife preserves and that officials have

proved willing to work with international groups to

better enforce local laws.

 

" However, it is essential to deal with the conflict to

reduce retaliatory killing, " Tsering said.

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070910-snow-leopards.html

 

 

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