An international snow leopards protection meeting held in the Kyrgyz capital on Friday called for intensifying efforts to protect the endangered animal and their ecosystems. The 2017 Bishkek Declaration was approved by all 12 countries of the snow leopard habitat at the International Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Forum.

The Declaration reflects the determination of the participating countries to preserve snow leopard populations and to ensure the cultural, social and economic well-being of mountain communities.

“If we don’t take drastic steps to conserve the snow leopard now, we will lose this precious species, as we have lost thousands of species before.”

Speaking at the forum, President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev urged leaders and heads of relevant agencies from the countries of the snow leopard habitat to develop a comprehensive project to preserve its population. He said that it is known that 15 years ago this species was on the verge of extinction.

"As a result of joint efforts and with the support of partner countries, international organizations, and financial institutions, we managed to stop the snow leopard population decline in Kyrgyzstan," he said, noting snow leopard as a sacred animal for Kyrgyz people and a vivid symbol of the mountain ecosystem of the Republic.

The forum brought together representatives of governments and international organizations such as the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), The United Nations Development Programme, and World Wildlife Fund.

“Range countries and partners have made impressive progress since 2013. They’ve done a lot of important ground work that has set us up for success,” said Michael Despines, the SLT’s Executive Director. However, humans still don’t have any "solid estimates of how many snow leopards there really are" at present, said Despines. "But we do know that we’re losing cats at an alarming rate, perhaps as many as one per day." 

Forums on the conservation of the snow leopard have been holding since 2013. The purpose of the event is to attract the attention of the world community to the threat of the snow leopard disappearance, to agree on the cardinal steps to preserve the population of this animal and to discuss the protection of its areas at the international and national levels.

Snow leopard is a large predatory mammal from the family of felines, listed in the International Red Book. Now in the wild, there are a little more than 3,000 individuals, who are suffering from human's threats. 

According to SLT, traditional direct threats including poaching and retaliation killings continue to loom large. Indirect threats such as climate change, the degradation of snow leopard habitat and prey base, illegal hunting or unsustainable infrastructure development add to the pressure.

At present, about 300 of snow leopard are on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.