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Snow Leopard

Panthera uncia

Status: Vulnerable. Damage to the high elevation habitat has put Panthera uncia at risk, along with diminishing populations of their prey species (goats and sheep). They are also poached for their fur and for traditional medicine.

The mountains of Pakistan are some of the tallest peaks in the world. Here, where the mountain ranges scrape the skies, the Wakhi people know of a spiritual high realm. This beautiful alpine zone, where the air is thin and clear, and the pastures of blue sheep are nestled like gems tucked among the spines of the ranges, is called mergich. The spirits of the mountains live in this parallel realm. Humans can only dare to set foot at those elevations in the summer, after asking the resident spirits for permission. Because snow leopards are only found in those mergich realms, the beautiful and elusive creatures are known to be vessels and incarnations for the mergichan, the spirit denizens.

 

References:
Snow Leopards: Biodiversity of the World: conservation from Genes to Landscapes. (2016). Netherlands: Elsevier Science.

Hussain, S. (2015). Remoteness and Modernity: Transformation and continuity in Northern Pakistan. United Kingdom: Yale University Press.