1 Snow Leopards Robert Kish Colorado State University Global BIO121 - Environmental Conservation Dr. Tracey Colyer October 31, 2021 Snow leopards 2 The animal I have chosen to research and write about for my portfolio project is the snow leopard. I chose them because I find it interesting where they like to live. I am interested to learn more about them, especially after learning that they roam in areas up to 1,000 square kilometers. I would also like to learn more about their life cycle and their behavior. Another reason I am choosing them is that I went to my local zoo recently, and was watching the one they have there. Three major things are threatening the snow leopard. The first is poaching which is mostly done by herders. The snow leopards kill their livestock, and the herder retaliates. Mining is also a huge threat to them because it destroys their ecosystem. The third threat is climate change which is one of the biggest factors for everything on the planet One organization helping snow leopards is the Snow Leopard Conservancy. What the conservancy does is educate the people in the regions that snow leopards live. They also try to have those regions make laws to make killing snow leopards illegal. They also help build high fences around herders' land that help make it harder for snow leopards to kill their prey. The second organization that helps is the Snow Leopard Program. This program tailors its tactics to each of the twelve countries that snow leopards live in. In China, for example, they use trail cams to find where the snow leopards live and which areas have the most conflict between humans and leopards. In those areas, the program partners with the local communities and authorities to educate and protect the leopards. There are a few different tactics that I can think of to help snow leopards. The first is poaching. Many of the places where snow leopards reside are very poor. Anti-Poaching task forces could be created, similar to in Africa. This would create more jobs and bring more money into the area. We could go to governments in the areas the leopards live and create laws to make killing snow leopards have more stiff penalties. Another thing that could be done would be to 3 regulate mining more. Specific zones could be created that mining companies wouldn’t be allowed to touch. References Snow Leopard Trust. (2018, February 28). The Threats. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://snowleopard.org/the-threats/ 4 Snow Leopard Program. (n.d.). Snow Leopards: Conservation by Country | Panthera. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.panthera.org/snow-leopards-conservation-country Wildlife Conservation Network. (2021, June 11). Snow Leopard Conservancy–. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://wildnet.org/wildlife-programs/snowleopard/?gclid=CjwKCAjwoP6LBhBlEiwAvCcthMLMT2D635UqlwzDyiYHDB6afjZWNlCncQCd6fZPoozpTUvty6YABoC-7kQAvD_BwE : Aimee Wilson Yesterday Hi guys, The species I've decided to write about this week is the painted turtle and is native to Colorado. Painted turtles are usually captured and sold as pets and can be major threatening to their species. Although on the IUCN Red List they are ranked at least concern they are still being monitored and watched. The painted turtles habitat is inland wetlands and swamps. The primary cause of habitat loss is residential development, building of roads and railroads, fishing and capturing as well as pollution to water. In my opinion, residential development and biological use is the most threatening to the painted turtle, however, this doesn't seem to have a detrimental impact to the species. Companies that contribute to water pollution or construction might be hesitant to to change because in reality, without demand for roads or houses, those companies wouldn't have business or incomes. Also, they've probably been following the same protocols for many years so their question could be "what would make a difference now?" or changing the way of operations would be too much work. As of right now there aren't many forms of protection over the painted turtle, but there are efforts for land and water protection in their habitats. A plan to further protect the painted turtle would be to capturing and selling turtles as pets, I could see this being a controversy but there could be regulations. Another plan of action would be scanning areas for turtle habitats before construction and if found, search for different areas or bring in wildlife biologists or conservationists to help relocate them. Aimee
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