Zoologists succeeded recovering the population of snow leopards in Afghanistan
As the manager of the project says, ‘the ounce is killed without regret not only because of its fur but also because it attacked both people and livestock. Only three years ago we stopped noticing in our reports the cases of such a behavior inherent to the ounce’.
In general, the program of help to the snow leopard has taken almost ten years, it was represented by the community in the middle of 2000s after the numerous requests about the help those who observed the population of this animal.
The head of the state agency of wild animals and environment protection Mostafa Zaer said that his establishment ‘got a report that the ounce became the target for poachers and hunters who killed it including for the purposes of its luxurious fur that is appreciated extremely high’.
Initially the efforts of both zoologists and ecologists did not meet understanding among the local population while the efforts of specialists have been either ignored or become the target of sabotage. However, gradually the education work also started giving its fruits. Students, as well, participate in awareness-building, among them there is Simah who explained that she, along with other employees, ‘saw that in some time after the ounce hunt has been forbidden, it began to appear more and more often, and the tourists came to as what brought income to the families’.
Apart from that, the scientists have spent in the mountains the whole months tending to take a photo of ounce in the nature so as to study its habits and tastes as well as routes of the season migration. In summation, nowadays there are more than five thousand photos and many hours of video records that embedded behavior and life of the snow leopard.
It is confirmed by the coordinator of the project from Wildlife Conservation Society Ashley Vosper: ‘For those who live here it is, certainly, a new feature of their being. The same could be said about the total country as Afghanistan has not been touched before by the programs of saving of rare animals’ population. In general, citizens of Afghanistan understand us with our efforts and actions even if do not agree. In due course, they perceive the significance of these activities’.
In addition to that, these are chances to develop the special area of tourism that is like the one spread in national parks of Africa which gives a prominent income to the budget. It has been said by Mostafa Zaer: ‘Being the great potential for eco-friendly travel industry, for us this factor is apparent as there are archaeological excavations and other ancient things. Generally, Afghanistan is the country for glaciologists-amateurs, for alpinists, and for those who think about the environment’.
If today these provinces of Afghanistan with travel purposes are attended by more than one hundred person per a year, with the organization of national park their number could become next larger – and not only in a year but in a day.
