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Snow Leopard No Longer 'endangered'

Scientists are emphasising that the big cats' new status does not mean they are safe from extinction

Has the chilling threat of extinction worn off at last for the long-endangered snow leopard?

Not exactly - but the iconic big cats' conservation status has been improved from "endangered" to "vulnerable".

The decision was announced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - the global standard for assessing extinction risk.

Experts have warned that the species still faces serious threats from poaching and habitat destruction.

The elegant yet elusive creatures, which live in the mountains of central Asia, were first listed as endangered by the IUCN in 1972.

The status change followed a three-year assessment process by five international experts.

Dr Tom McCarthy, who runs the Snow Leopard Programme at big cat charity Panthera, was one of them.

"To be considered 'endangered,' there must be fewer than 2,500 mature snow leopards and they must be experiencing a high rate of decline," he explained.

"Both are now considered extremely unlikely, which is the good news, but it does not mean that snow leopards are 'safe' or that now is a time to celebrate.

"The species still faces 'a high risk of extinction in the wild', and is likely still declining - just not at the rate previously thought."

A baby snow leopard pictured at the Tierpark zoo in Berlin

Being classed as "vulnerable" means a species has under 10,000 breeding animals left, with a population decline of at least 10% over three generations.

The Snow Leopard Trust, which aims to protect the big cat through community projects, strongly opposes the status change. It plans to challenge the decision with the IUCN.

"We believe it could have serious consequences for the species," it wrote in a blog post.

Snow leopard researchers believe the species' decline may have been slowed by conservation projects - including some to protect farm animals from the predators, which are sometimes killed in revenge for livestock losses.

The number of protected areas within the snow leopards' habitat has also increased significantly in recent decades.

  • The rarely-sighted cats live in the craggy peaks of central Asia - including the Himalayas, and Russia's remote Altai mountains
  • Their habitat covers more than 1.8 million sq km / 694,980 sq miles, across 12 countries
  • Scientists say they are threatened by poaching for their fur, infrastructure developments, and climate change
  • Usually found at elevations of 3,000-4,500m (11,480-14,760ft)
  • Solitary creatures, they usually hunt at dawn and dusk and are able to kill prey up to three times their own weight
  • Mostly feed on wild animals, but will also prey on livestock
  • Their spotted coats change with the seasons - from a thick, white fur to keep them warm and camouflaged in winter, to a fine yellow-grey coat in summer
  • Retaliatory killings by farmers are not uncommon, but are rarely reported

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    Apple Completes Work On Snow Leopard APIs

    According tothe enthusiast blog AppleInsider, Apple recently told testers working with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard build 10A354 not to expect any future API changes, essentially giving third-party developers the green light to move forward with plans for OS X 10.6-compatible applications.

    In Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard build 10A354, Apple simplified the APIs for "Grand Central," a set of technologies that enable support for multicore processors and parallel computing, AppleInsider reported.

    Apple has said that Snow Leopard won't include a raft of new features, but will instead represent an architectural shift in OS X toward multicore processor support and parallel processing. Grand Central and OpenCL, which let applications tap into unused GPU computing power, are two additions to Mac OS X 10.6 that Apple partners believe could increase business usage of Macs.

    Mac adoption stood at 5 percent in May 2008, but had fallen to 3 percent in February of this year, according to Forrester Research. Although not yet a trend, overall Mac sales during Apple's last fiscal quarter fell 3 percent year-on-year.

    Apple is expected to launch Mac OS X 10.6 this summer, possibly as early as next month, at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The event will include sessions on how to prepare for Snow Leopard's 64-bit architecture, tapping into multicore and GPU computing, and transitioning from traditional QuickTime APIs to QuickTime X, according to Apple's Web site.

    Mac OS X 10.6 may have to share the spotlight with the iPhone, however. Apple is also expected to use WWDC as a launch pad for its iPhone 3.0 software, and potentially, new iPhone hardware.


    Bronx Zoo Unveils New Snow Leopard Cubs

    Bronx Zoo unveils new snow leopard cubs - CBS New York

    Watch CBS News

    Two new residents of the Bronx Zoo​ made their debuts Friday. The brother and sister snow leopard cubs were born this summer as part of the zoo's species survival plan program. Read more: https://cbsloc.Al/47eyWmH

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