The Snow Leopard: Peter Matthiessen

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Matthiessen begins his quest like some medieval pilgrim in the valley of death, having journeyed to Kathmandu from Varanasi, the holy city on the Ganges where “the scent of charred human flesh pervades the ghats [steps beside the river]”.

After it was published, in 1978—first, in part, in The New Yorker, then as a book—“ The Snow Leopard,” his account of the trip, won two National Book Awards, becoming both a naturalist and a spiritual classic. Medium-sized members of the cat family, these sure-footed hunters are perfectly adapted for life at the top of the food chain and atop the world’s highest mountains.Indicating his twisted legs without a trace of self-pity or bitterness, as if they belonged to all of us, he casts his arms wide to the sky and the snow mountains, the high sun and dancing sheep, and cries, 'Of course I am happy here! He is now 53 and works in New York as a consultant and campaigner on environmental issues; formerly he was CEO of Riverkeeper, which strives to maintain and improve the Hudson river and protect the drinking water of 9 million New Yorkers.

Copulation of snow leopards occurs in both ventral/dorsal and dorsal/dorsal postures, and the male generally grips the fur on the female’s neck as he is mounting her.

At between 2 and 4 months old the cubs start to follow their mothers when they hunt but won’t be much help at first. David Mallon is not only a recognized expert on snow leopards, he is extremely knowledgeable on the conservation status of Central Asia as a whole. When Matthiessen and Schaller set out on their trip, scientists knew virtually nothing about snow leopards. In 1973 Matthiessen made the 250-mile trek to Dolpo, as part of an expedition to study wild blue sheep.

They make sure they are stable, self-sustaining, and healthy populations, that can act as a genetic backup to wild (In-situ) populations.WWF’s work focuses on managing human-leopard conflict and rural development, education for sustainable development, stopping mining, and reducing impacts of linear infrastructure development in fragile snow leopard habitat, and the control of the illegal wildlife trade.