The Snow Leopard Festival, dedicated to Snow Leopard Day, was held in Gorno-Altaisk, according to the press service of the government of the Altai Republic on May 26.
The head of the Altai Republic, Oleg Khorokhordin, took part in the opening ceremony of the festival.
“This year, ecologists, employees of nature reserves and natural parks conducted large-scale censuses of snow leopards in Russia and counted 87 individuals. “In the Altai Republic the population is increasing and today we have 54 snow leopards, which represents more than 60% of Russian leopards.”– he said.
Snow Leopard Day has been celebrated in the region on May 26 since 2010.
The organizers have prepared a bright and eventful program: a carnival procession of festival participants dressed as snow leopards; performances by the most powerful characters in the country, mimes and jugglers; Master classes, competitions, photo zones, exhibitions and creative performances were organized. Three thousand free scoops of ice cream were also distributed.
In the costume contest there were four categories: “Leopard Friends”, “Leopard Family”, “Leopard Couple” and “I am a Leopard”.
Among the gifts for the winners were a dinner at the Roerich restaurant and a helicopter flight. The main prize was a vacation at the Vysotnik base under Mount Belukha.
We remind you that the snow leopard, or snow leopard, or snow leopard is a large predatory mammal from the feline family that lives in the mountains of Central Asia. The only modern representative of the family that lives exclusively in cold climates.
The snow leopard is distinguished by a slender, long and flexible body, relatively short legs, a small head and a very long tail. It reaches a length of 200-230 cm together with the tail and weighs up to 55 kg. The coat color is light smoky gray with solid, ring-shaped dark spots.
Due to the inaccessibility of the habitat and the low density of the species, many aspects of its biology remain poorly studied.
Currently, the number of snow leopards is catastrophically small: the population of the species in 2003, according to various estimates, ranged from 4 to 7 thousand individuals, in 2020 – from 2.7 to 3.4 thousand. In the 20th century it was included in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in the Red Book of Russia, as well as in the protection documents of other countries. Hunting of the snow leopard is prohibited in all countries where it lives, and the snow leopard is also listed in Appendix I of the CITES Convention (the international ban on trade in endangered species and their parts). Since 2013, 12 countries where the snow leopard lives have adopted the “Global Program for the Conservation of the Snow Leopard and its Ecosystems”, which provides for special measures for its conservation (against poaching, creation of specially protected natural areas , subsidies for farmers in case of livestock loss to the snow leopard, etc.).
Source: Rossa Primavera
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