Srinagar : Snow leopards are meeting the same fate as tigers, prompting the Jammu and Kashmir government to launch a conservation programme to save the animal from extinction.

Killed for their fur, organs and bones, there are 400 to 600 snow leopards left in India. They are found in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal. Sixty per cent of snow leopards are found in Ladakh.

 

There are 4,500 to 7,000 snow leopards left in the world. Their population is on the decline because of poaching, encroachment on their habitat and attacks by shepherds.

 

The Union ministry of environment and forests has earmarked Rs 1.26 crore for conservation of snow leopards. Under the new conservation scheme, the government will extend the purview of the wildlife department to non protected areas such as forests to prevent poaching of wild cats. It also proposes to put in place an anti–grazing mechanism in forest areas to prevent man-animal conflict. The project envisages alternative livelihood for local people to ensure that they don’t attack wild cats.