The snow leopard population is declining, rapidly. Snow leopards are classified as Endangered on the IUCN scale since the last count in 2008. I fear that if we don't do something quickly, they could fall to Critically Endangered. With only 5,000-7,000 snow leopards left in the wild and around 600-700 snow leopards in captivity. Even worse, only 2500-3500 can reproduce. In the last 20 years they have been included as at risk of extinction in the IUCN scale, even after multiple counts. The IUCN is a group that estimates the number of each plant and animal species. The operation of the graph is quite simple, it goes from left to right. The first category of the graph is "Not assessed", which means that the IUCN does not have sufficient data. After that there is less concern, which means that they are well populated snow leopards, they are very elusive figures and the exact number is unknown. Humans hunt the snow leopard for their luxurious skin. Humans also hunt the snow leopard for their bones and organs, for medical reasons. Another threat is loss of food, especially in winter when animals are hibernating, and this can push snow leopards towards farmers' livestock and of course the leopard's reaction is to kill/severely injure the poor creature. But, as much as I like to admit it, they have a reason why, most of these farmers depend on their livestock to feed their family. One of the rarest threats is mining, miners use toxic chemicals to mine and this can get into snow leopards and drink water which will slowly kill them. One of the most interesting facts I learned is that the snow leopard can jump up to 15 meters. They use this skill when hunting due to the rocky terrain. First they find an animal, from their... middle of paper... across 12 countriesHigh mountains of Asia, spanning 12 countries Most snow leopards will actually run away unless you attack them or you threaten them. But if they have puppies they will be more ferocious. Dusk and Dawn Works Cited http://worldwildlife.org/species/snow-leopard http://www.snowleopard.org/learn/cat-facts/prey http://www.britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/595280/Tien-Shan/47931/Animal-life©2014 Encyclopaedia Britannica, inchttp://www.iucnredlist.org/searchhttp://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/snow-leopardsnow leopard" World Book Online InfoFinder, 2014. Web, March 21, 2014.http://www.defenders.org/snow-leopard/basic-factshttp://snowleopardconservancy.org/kids/text/ideas.htmhttp:// .com/climate-central-asia-59757.htmlhttp://snowleopardblog.com/about/snow-leopard-experts/