In new light: Will the grey ghost vanish before our eyes?

PESHAWAR -- There are perhaps only a handful of animal species that are as elusive as the enigmatic snow leopard. Their majestic appearance and their ability to hunt their prey on the steepest of cliffs without as much as a sound have imbued them with a special mystique in popular imagination.

But there is another more sinister reason why the 'grey ghost of the mountain' remains as elusive as ever.

With an ever declining population of less than 4,000 in the wild and perhaps just 2,500 breeding adults, snow leopards are in crisis. And while the species is on priority for conservation efforts by several wildlife organisations, the risk persists that the grey ghost may become just that - a phantom from another time that will only haunt our memories.

This is especially true for Pakistan, where the snow leopard population has dwindled down to a startling 200 to 400 cats only. Although ongoing conservation efforts have managed to curb the hunting of snow leopards, the species faces an even greater threat in the form of climate change.

The current range of the less than 4,000 wild snow leopards spans a huge area across 12 states - Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. But many populations are small and fragmented.

In Pakistan, the species is spread across its three mountain ranges - the Karakorum, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas.

Once of these fragmented populations inhabit the mountains of Chitral. A survey carried out in 2007 noted that only 36 snow leopards remained in that region at that time. Since then however, no further surveys have been conducted to ascertain where their numbers stand.

While the government appears disinterested in snow leopard conservation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been sponsoring a five-year project to ascertain snow leopard numbers in Chitral, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and raise awareness about the need to protect the species.

'Efforts to raise awareness among locals and other conservation activities are underway in 15 to 20 villages,' said Jafaruddin, the Chitral deputy director for the Snow Leopard Foundation, one of the organisations part of the...