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from Russia in the 1920s has been estimated to have amounted to about 1000 pelts a year
(Heptner and Sludskii, 1972; Fox, 1989). Certainly, hunting levels have been high in places
during the twentieth century. Bannikov (1954) estimated that up to 80 Snow Leopards a year
were hunted in the first decade of the twentieth century in Mongolia, though this number had
dropped to 15-50 animals in the middle of the century (Hibbert, 1967). In the Kirghiz Soviet
Socialist Republic (now Kyrgyzstan) almost 40 Snow Leopards a year were trapped between
1953 and 1963 and about 30 a year from the 1960s to the 1980s, after which the number soared
during the 1990s (see Kyrgyzstan in following chapter).
Pelts from Snow Leopards were in demand during much of the twentieth century, for decorative
reasons, for garments and as a sign of wealth and status in general. Snow Leopard skins have
been presented as 'State gifts' among world leaders (Chestin, 1998; Dexel, 2002). The fur has
also been used in traditional religious dresses in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The skins
appear to be the primary reason for killing Snow Leopards for trade in the present day. The
recent TRAFFIC report Far From A Cure: the Tiger Trade Revisited noted a rise in the trade of
Asian big cat skins, including those of Snow Leopards, although this phenomenon is not
adequately understood (Nowell, 2000).
Leopard bones, including Snow Leopard bones, have been used in traditional Asian medicines
for centuries for a variety of treatments, including rheumatism, tendonitis and bone fractures
(Bensky and Gamble, 1993). They are considered to have acrid and warm properties and to
have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects (Anon., 1994). In the Chinese materica
medica they are referred to as Bao Gu or Os leopardi and their properties are distinguished from
those of Tiger bones, although they can be used as a substitute for the latter (Bensky and
Gamble, 1993). The skulls of Snow Leopards have also been used in ritual ceremonies in parts
of China and in Nepal (G. Gurung, WWF Nepal, in litt., 2002) and body parts other than bones,
including the sexual organs, teeth, claws and meat appear in trade, for medicine and shamanistic
practices (Khan, 2002a). In recent years, anecdotal reports from a number of range States have
indicated an increase in the demand for Snow Leopard bones (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003).
This increase is likely to be related to the stricter enactment and enforcement of wildlife trade
controls for Tigers in a number of range and consumer States in the mid-1990s, which may have
shifted trade to other big cat species (Nowell, 2000).
Hundreds of live Snow Leopards were traded during the twentieth century. The majority of
these animals, exported to supply zoos, originated from what is now Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Reports suggest that an average of 12 live Snow Leopards a year were exported by the former
until the early 1970s, and up to 425 live specimens by the latter, between 1937 and 1969
(Heptner and Sludskii, 1972).
Occasional advertisements testify to present-day, international, illegal trade in Snow Leopards
(in addition to the seizures reported in Box 1). A Snow Leopard skin rug was offered for sale
in the Jakarta Post, an Indonesian daily newspaper in English, in September 2001 (C. Shepherd,
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, in litt., 2002) and the German Society for Nature Conservation
(NABU) reported a Snow Leopard skin coat (priced at USD100) and stuffed Snow Leopard
advertised on e-bay, an internet-based trading site, in November 2002 and March 2003, respectively.
The range State accounts following provide ample evidence of the illegal hunting and
trade at the source of such international trafficking in Snow Leopard products.
FADING FOOTPRINTS: the killing and trade of Snow Leopards 25