Captured snow leopard in Afghanistan. Photo Essay by Richard Fite in Time magazine.
Readers may recall the story of the captured snow leopard in Afghanistan I wrote about in March(read here). Richard Fite, the US veterinarian who advises for the U.S. Agricultural Department in northern Afghanistan, tried to save the cat, which had been captured for the illegal wildlife trade, but sadly she died. Richard shared his hope with the world that at least many government officials and others in the country are now more aware of the need to help these rare animals and perhaps the remaining snow leopards will be treated better.
Time magazine recently released a photo essay of truly shocking photos taken by Richard of the poor cat. I hope, along with Richard and others in Afghanistan, that these photos will help in educating people of the need to actively protect these animals. I don’t believe it’s an over statement to say, that it will take a lot of effort, a real lot, to stop snow leopards becoming extinct in the wild in Afghanistan in our lifetime. May this poor snow leopard not have suffered and died in vain.
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