Snow leopards risk status lowered from endangered to vulnerable

The latest news on snow leopards is a mixture of good and bad after the ICUN red list has downgraded the animals to a vulnerable status from endangered. With the total population being somewhere around 4000 animals it seems a bad idea to lower the risk of extinction status of these beautiful animals. But it's good news if in fact the reasoning is sound, that the decline in their numbers has slowed justifying the change of status. They are still facing enormous pressures to survive with habitat loss, persecution and the illegal wildlife trade, but there have also been major efforts to help them survive in the bleak environment they inhabit. To see the reversal in their status from endangered is very heartening and shows that with sustained effort a species can be saved from the brink.

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