 Have you heard about the ghosts of the mountains? What do you think it is? Is it the betsheba that comes in the conjuring or the black widow that comes in the insidious? It is neither of them and it is an entirely different thing and you will not have guessed it. See, snow leopards, they are called as the ghosts of the mountains. And here's why. See, snow leopards are one of the world's most elusive cats. The snow leopard has a beautiful and spotted coat and this coat or defer, it serves two purposes. One is that it helps the animal to insulate from the cold and the other purpose is to be camouflaged so that it gives an edge while hunting. Now, see these images here. Can you spot the difference between the surroundings and the cat? No, right? And that's how camouflaged their skin will be. See, the scientific name for snow leopards is pantera anchia. Does the name sound familiar? Yeah, you might have heard it several times. See this image to know about the other animals under the genus pantera. It includes jaguar, pantera onca, leopard, pantera pardus, tiger, pantera, tigress, snow leopard, pantera anchia, lion, pantera leo. And now you know where you heard the name pantera. See, just now I said that snow leopards' fur help the animal to insulate from the cold. From this itself, you may wonder, what is the habitat of snow leopards? See, snow leopards, they live in the mountainous regions of central and southern Asia. Now, look at this image here. Its habitat range extends across the mountainous regions of 12 countries. It includes Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Now, coming to India-specific information, in India, their geographic range encompasses a large part of the western Himalayas and also eastern Himalayas. The states in the western Himalayas include Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The states in the eastern Himalayas include Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Now, with this information, let us see about the diet. See, they prey on animals such as blue sheep, ibex, marmots, pycas and hares. So far, we saw about the physical characteristics, habitat, diet. Now, let us see about the threats faced by them and the conservation status. See, the expansion of human settlement, especially the livestock grazing, has led to the increased man-animal conflict. Here, what happens is, herders, sometimes they kill these snow leopards to prevent the predation of their domestic animals. And apart from this, snow leopards' lives are also threatened by poaching illegal traits in pelt and body parts. See, here pelt is nothing but stripped skin of animals. See, this image here, you will understand. Here, the skin of the animal is stripped from the animal and this skin is illegally traded. See, these animals are illegally traded to be used for the traditional Chinese medicine. And because of all of these reasons, snow leopards are dramatically declining. See, they have lost at least 20 percentage of their population in two decades and this happened as a result of the threats that we discussed now. So, to avoid the threats faced by snow leopards, conservation efforts are taken to protect these snow leopards. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the snow leopard is listed as vulnerable. And in addition to this, the snow leopard is also listed in the Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species. That is nothing but sites. See, this makes the trading of body parts of animals illegal in the signatory countries and it includes illegal trading of fur, bones and meat. Now, coming to India-specific information, the snow leopard is listed under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. And this gives snow leopards the highest protection status under the country's laws. Now, apart from this, India has launched two conservation efforts. One is Project Snow Leopard. See, this project promotes an inclusive and participatory approach to conservation involving the local communities. And the second one is Secure Himalaya. It is a part of global partnership on wildlife conservation and crime prevention for sustainable development. And it is funded by Global Environment Facility. See, the Secure Himalaya, it contributes to the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program, which is a joint initiative of 12 range countries, which includes governments, international agencies, civil societies and the private sector. Now, so many conservation efforts are taken. So, you should know that why it is important to conserve snow leopards. See, snow leopards, they are the top pre-datas in their environment. And their prey include mountain sheeps and goats. See, without these snow leopards, the ecological balance would be disrupted. For example, herbivore populations would increase. And this results in changes to vegetation and it also affects other wildlife that live in the same areas. See, the same landscape, they provide food and other important resources for many people who live there. And this includes medicine, wood for shelter, heat and fuel. We saw that if snow leopards' population are disrupted, then the ecological balance will be disrupted. So, by protecting snow leopard, we are benefiting the whole natural environment in these areas and the people who rely on it. And this is exactly why we should conserve snow leopards. Now, coming to the news article. See, the estimation of snow leopards is being conducted in the north-eastern state of Arnachal Pradesh for the first time. And it is done with the technical support from World Wildlife Fund for Nature. See, the WWIF India is doing the data analysis of the survey which has already been completed and the report is likely to be published on October 23rd this year. And as we already saw, in India, snow leopards are found in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arnachal Pradesh. Now, the analysis is being done in Arnachal Pradesh because it forms a part of the eastern Himalayas. And this eastern Himalayas is a priority global region for the World Wildlife Fund and the Living Himalayas Network Initiative. And I have given here the details about the Living Himalayas Network Initiative. So, pause the video and go through it. See, knowing about different species, the conservation efforts and the conservation status of the species, these and all will be very helpful for your prelims and as well as means. So, take note of it and revise it again and again. Whenever a question is asked and means about the biodiversity conservation, if you quote Secure Himalayas or Living Himalayas Network Initiative, then it will give you an edge and it will also fetch you more marks in your mains. So, this is the importance of this particular news article. And if you want to know more about current affairs and other issues, follow the Hindi News Analysis of Shankarae's Academy. Thank you.