Buddhist monks protect endangered snow leopards

This video is called Snow Leopard – Beyond the Myth.

From msnNOW:

Researchers find Buddhist monks protecting endangered snow leopards

7 September 2013

There aren’t many snow leopards left in Asia. Between 3,500 and 7,000 live high in the mountains there, with about 60 percent in China. Largely because their thick, warm fur is desired by humans and their organs are considered valuable in Chinese medicine, snow leopards have seen their numbers decline by 20 percent in the last 20 years.

Research published in the journal Conservation Biology last week suggests that more snow leopards are being protected in the Tibetan Plateau, where there are Buddhist monasteries, than in the nature reserve set aside for the cats. The monks patrol the area and prevent poachers from killing the animals. In addition, the monks are teaching the local people that killing snow leopards is wrong. “Buddhism has as a basic tenet, the love, respect, and compassion for all living beings,” George Schaller, a biologist with the endangered-cat conservation group Panthera, said in a statement.

See also here.

Related articles

• Snow leopard on camera in Kyrgyzstan (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Snow Leopard (fatimaamirsheikh166.wordpress.com)
• Central Asian Nations to Discuss Snow Leopard Conservation (natureworldnews.com)
• Brookfield Zoo Announces the Birth of a Snow Leopard Cub (news.softpedia.com)
• Look and watch: Snow leopards born at Twycross Zoo go on show (coventrytelegraph.net)