Himachal gets nod to tag snow leopards

Shimla : The wild life department of the Himachal Pradesh government has been given permission by the Centre to carry out a study of the highly endangered and elusive snow leopard over the next couple of years .

A senior wild life official told Sun Post around half a dozen snow leopards will be tagged by gps radio collars and the behaviour of these elusive cats will be observed by experts .

An effort will be made to see how these cats travel in search of prey . And also if they get close to human habitations in search of prey .

According to a rough estimate the entire project is expected to cost around Rs 25 lakh .

A study centre will be set up at Kibber village one of the highest villages in the world at around 14,200 ft above sea level in tribal Spiti valley of the state.

The Kibber region is a major habitat of this high mountain cat . According to one estimate there are around 30 snow leopards in the entire state .

The snow leopard lives between 11,000 ft to over 20,000 ft .There global population is expected to be less than 2500.

A wildlife official not wishing to be named said the biggest challenge for the state’s wild life wing is to actually get hold of six cats as they are very shy of humans !