17-01-07 Snow Leopard, a cover story

ROME, Italy -- “SOS on the Summit�, is the title of the article published on the January issue (no. 309) of Airone magazine dedicated to the Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia). This incisive title reminds readers that the species, no matter how strong and brave it appears, is on the endangered list.    

The article is developed through fascinating images and inserts of analysis about places, prey and characteristics of the feline. The description including the story of prof. Sandro Lovari, expert of the university of Siena, which in the last years has carried out the Ev-K²-CNR project "Snow Leopard", dedicated to the protection and the monitoring of the feline in the Sagarmatha National Park area (Nepal).

 "We were studying the tahr... -  tells in the article the prof.Lovari - but have uncovered its great predator, that was extinguished in the area from forty years.
The history begins in November 2003, on the Kanjuma mount, at 3800 meters ".

"From that moment, the “ice eyes� leopard, “has invaded" the area where we were studying the Himalayas tahr Biology and immediately we have inserted the splendid cat in a research programs", continues the expert zoologist.

The snow leopard is a feline of important dimensions - reported the Airone - than alive at the high altitude forests. It is a predator of the opened spaces, steppes of the desolated chain plates, the cliffs. Is a fascinating myth of Asian mountains in meat bones and fur, but its biology is still unknown.

For this reason the Ev-K²-CNR Committee researches are applied to monitoring and counting its prey (puppies of tahr) for defining the abundance and the effects of the return of this great predator in the populations.