An Indian conservationist who helped save the highly endangered snow leopard by tackling “retaliation killings” in the Himalayas has won a prestigious award from a UK wildlife charity for his pioneering work.
Snow leopards live high in the mountains of central Asia but have suffered huge declines in numbers as climate change melts their icy territory and local villagers hunt them in “retaliation killings” for preying on their livestock.
Dr Charudutt Mishra, executive director of the Snow Leopard Trust, has spent decades working to save the endangered big cat by convincing mountain communities not to kill them.
He has today won the Whitley Gold Award from UK conservation charity the Whitley Fund for Nature.
“If there’s anything that comes close to perfection in nature, it is the snow leopard,” he told i.
Lead Image: Snow leopards are one of the most elusive big cat species, and sightings are very rare (Photo: Prasenjeet Yadav / Snow Leopard Trust).
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