Environment

Death of a Snow Leopard in Afghanistan

by rumana husain | March 27, 2010 at 01:58 am

595 views | 18 Recommendations | 4 comments

A sad story, as written by Tim McGirk in the weekly Time magazine reports that a hunter caught the magnificent snow leopard in Afghanistan, took him to a town where he could have sold it for at least US$ 50,000, but the animal was rescued by NATO troops. Unfortunately, it soon died, perhaps out of shock!

An Afghan elder who had seen the leopard in the cage wept when he saw its dead body carried out. "A lot of these mountain people have respect for wildlife," says Lawson, who was told by an elder that "God put these animals here for us to look after." The death of a snow leopard may not be of great consequence in Afghanistan's larger turmoil. But for many Afghans, the snow leopard is a symbol of the country's spirit of untamed wildness. For a few brief moments, everyone from the President to the top U.S. diplomat in the country turned their gaze away from politics and terrorism to a shivering, sick cat in a cage. And when it died, everyone from the highest echelons of power to humble villagers suffered a profound loss.

— With reporting by Shah Mahmood Barakzai / Kabul

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Uwe Paschen

at 05:02 on March 27th, 2010

We need to teach and learn to respect nature and our wild creatures. There right are as important as any Human rights would be.

Amy Judd

at 07:12 on March 27th, 2010

Oh so sad that it died, too bad.

anarkissed

at 09:41 on March 27th, 2010

Poor thing shouldn't have been brought down from the mountains in the first place. Many animals can't take the stress of caging and transport, especially wild ones not accustomed to the great apes that we are.

rumana husain

at 21:08 on March 27th, 2010

yes, true, but the hunter was greedy. he accidentally trapped the creature and then saw thousands of dollars dancing in front of his eyes in the shape of the captured but live snow leopard, so he decided to throw it "in the back of a truck, and headed out of the Wakhan Valley to Feyzabad, a three-day journey of hairpin curves along terrifying mountain roads..."