Snow leopards are no longer endangered, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe

Snow leopards are no longer an endangered species; they’re now considered “vulnerable”

to extinction. But scientists caution that the big cats are not out of danger, facing threats ranging from poaching to climate change. The animals got their new designation from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an environmental organization that keeps track of the conservation status of plants and animals. The decision was based on a new assessment that determined that snow leopard populations are still declining, but not as fast as we previously thought, says Peter Zahler, who directs the snow leopard programs at the Wildlife Conservation Society, and took part in the assessment. And it’s actually long overdue: the IUCN says that because of a miscalculation in snow leopard populations in the past, the species should have been listed as vulnerable as far back as 2008. Though the announcement is good news, it doesn’t mean it’s time to celebrate. “Nobody is saying that snow leopards are safe and saved,” Zahler tells The Verge. “They’re not doing as badly as we thought, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing well.”                                                                                         https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/14/16306682/snow-leopards-endangered-vulnerable-iucn-red-list