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Life is not easy for people in the high mountains
of central Asia, where snow leopards
also reside. Most of the twelve countries
where snow leopards can be found are considered
developing countries, meaning people in these
countries typically earn little money. These nations
include Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal,
Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Many people who live alongside snow leopards
are nomadic herders, meaning they move their
livestock such as goats and yaks throughout the year
in search of grazing land. In the mountains, grazing
land can be scarce. Livestock herders make money
by selling wool, milk, and meat from their animals.
Many of the people who live in the mountains
of central Asia live in poverty. For example, people
who live alongside snow leopards in China make
just $227 a year on average. The average income of
people who live alongside snow leopards in Mongolia
is $600, though many people earn less than
$100 a year. In India, the average annual income
of people in the mountains is between $378 and
$638. In Pakistan, people who live in snow leopard
areas earn approximately $200 to $430 a year. In
Kyrgyzstan, nomadic herders earn just $120 a year
on average. 1
Threats to Snow Leopards
Earning money as a nomadic herder is unpredictable.
When winter weather is especially severe,
livestock animals may die. A herder’s income also
depends on the health of livestock animals. If
livestock are diseased, a herder will lose money.
Because people who herd livestock in these regions
make very little money, each livestock animal is
very important to them.
For various reasons, snow leopards will sometimes
attack and kill livestock. In some cases,
the snow leopard’s natural prey—wild sheep and
goats—are not easily available because hunters
have killed them for meat. In other cases, livestock
3
It Takes All Kinds of People
Rugged Realities
animals overgraze the same grass on which wild
sheep and goats rely, leaving less prey for snow
leopards. When snow leopards attack domestic
livestock, some herders retaliate by killing snow
leopards.
While many people in these regions value the
snow leopard, they are often able to earn more
money 1000 Kmfrom
killing snow leopards than they could
1000 Mi.
UZBEKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN
KAZAKHSTAN
PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN
Indian Ocean
KYRGYZSTAN
INDIA
NEPAL
RUSSIA
BHUTAN
CHINA
MONGOLIA
earn from protecting the animals. For example, a
poacher who kills snow leopards illegally can make
as much as $1000 from the sale of a snow leopard’s
fur and body parts. 2 People in the region can
also make money from oil mining, which destroys
wildlife habitat.
Snow leopards are an internationally recognized
endangered species. It is illegal to kill snow leopards
anywhere in the world. There are also laws to
protect snow leopards within individual countries.
Most of the large wild goats and sheep that are
prey for snow leopards are also illegal to hunt.
© FACING THE FUTURE www.facingthefuture.org & SNOW LEOPARD TRUST www.snowleopard.org
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