''You rarely see me, but that is the way I want to live in my Kingdom''

Source: JULIE LARSEN MAHER @WCS

Hi there, I know you rarely see me this close, I am a medium-sized cat but not that kind of cat you often see in nature, instead I am solitary by very high altitude and one of the most elusive and vulnerable top predators of the world. My kingdom can be found in mountainous regions from Central Asia of Russia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to Hindu-Kush-Himalayan regions through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and China.

Life in these harshest environments is not easy, but I am very well evolved and superbly adapted to survive. Thanks to my woolly and dense hairs I can ward off the severe cold and easily walk on ice and snow with my large fur-covered snowshoes. I've also got enlarged nasal cavity and muscular chest to get sufficient oxygen at high altitudes, my powerful legs and long tail (as long as my body) help me to spring up to 50 feet high with a good balance, and move around my rugged kingdom without any problem.

It sounds like I am tremendously strong and 'secretive' as you call it, I am actually quite 'shy' and sensitive to the surroundings, I like to hide in my dark grey coat with rosette and spots pattern, which blends perfectly with my stony rocky habitats and provides ideal camouflage. However, in recent years, I have been unwillingly exposed as my alpine habitats are shrinking and getting fragmented. The high mountain kingdom is getting warmer, and the treeline is rising. I have to spend more energy and travel much longer distance to search for my preferred wild prey (primarily blue sheep and ibex). In contrast, I see increasing human herding and grazing activities as well as medicinal plant collection throughout parts of my original kingdom range. Due to the decline of my natural prey I have to at times take their livestock to feed myself and my cubs, sadly at a risk of us being killed by the herders and ranchers in retaliation for their livestock loss. Driven by illegal trades, my bones and beautiful furs are also in high demand and sought after by the poachers and hunters.

In spite of these threats and challenges, I appreciate the great efforts the local governments and international conservation organizations have been making to secure a resilient habitat for us. Some of us have been wearing the expensive GPS collar, more often we are being tracked and monitored by the camera traps, they collect the data and carry out fieldwork survey to map out our population, dietary diversity and predator-prey habitat changes as well as the research of sensitivity and vulnerability to the ''climate change'' - as they say. As far as I know, there may be between 4,678 and 8,745 of us living in the world, the number is becoming higher than previously estimated.

Trust me, being the umbrella species it is the last thing I want to do to have a taste of livestock or go into conflict with the human being. I appreciate your help to break the vicious cycle that we are forced to have now, meanwhile make climate-integrated conservation plans for our habitats, for our landscape and for other species of high conservation value.

I sincerely hope to have my intact kingdom back and live there in a way as Dr.George Schaller described in his book Stones of Silence after spotted us in northern Pakistan for the first time.

"Wisps of clouds swirled around......transforming her into a ghost creature, part myth and part reality......."

Source: A pilot conservation project on snow leopards in Changtang region of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China @WCS

Source:Planet Earth - BBC Earth