By Jonathon Burch
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's snow leopards have barelysurvived three decades of war. But now the few remainingmountain leopards left in Afghanistan face another threat --foreigners involved in rebuilding the war-torn country.
Despite a complete hunting ban across Afghanistan since2002, snow leopard furs regularly end up for sale oninternational military bases and at tourist bazaars in thecapital. Foreigners have ready cash to buy the pelts assouvenirs and impoverished Afghans break poaching laws tosupply them.
Tucked between souvenir stores on Chicken Street, Kabul'smain tourist trap, several shops sell fur coats and pelts takenfrom many of Afghanistan's threatened and endangered animals.
"This one is only $300 (151 pounds)," one shopkeeper toldReuters, producing a snow leopard pelt from the back of hisshop.
"It was shot several times," he said pointing to thepatches of fur sewn together. "The better ones are only shotonce. The skin remains intact," he says as his assistant bringsout a larger pelt, this time with no patches. "This one is$900."
All the shopkeepers said they had more pelts at home andthat they had sold furs to foreigners over the past few weeks.
Asked if it was easy to send the furs back home, oneshopkeeper who did not want to be named said: "No problem! Wehide the fur inside blankets and send it back to your country."
Snow leopards along with several other animals inAfghanistan are listed as endangered or threatened under theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES). Anyone caught knowingly transporting a fur across aninternational border is liable to a large fine. In the UnitedStates, it could result in a $100,000 fine and one year jailterm.
It is hard to know the exact numbers of snow leopards leftin Afghanistan due to the creatures' elusive nature and thelack of any case studies during the last three decades ofconflict, said Dr. Peter Smallwood, Afghanistan countrydirector for the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS).
But what is known is that the snow leopard is endangered.
"If you look historically at Afghanistan, Afghanistanactually had more big cat species than the entire continent ofAfrica," said Clayton Miller, Environmental Advisor to the U.S.Embassy in Kabul.
"Now the only cat species that is not on the threatened andendangered species list is the domestic cat.
Destruction of infrastructure, movements of refugees,modern weaponry, extreme poverty and a lack of law enforcementtogether with drought and deforestation are just some of thefactors that have devastated Afghanistan's flora and fauna.
There are now only between 100 to 200 snow leopardsestimated to be left in Afghanistan. In comparison, Bhutan hasthe same number but has three times less the area of habitat.
The estimated number of snow leopards in the wild worldwideis between 3,500 and 7000, according to the International SnowLeopard Trust (ISLT).
CRACKING DOWN ON FOREIGNERS
Snow leopards in Afghanistan mainly inhabit the extremenortheast of the country in particular the remote sliver ofland called the Wakhan Corridor which separates Tajikistan fromPakistan and extends all the way to China.
The mountainous Wakhan is sparsely populated by humans butis a vital link for the snow leopard.
"The Wakhan is a critical area because ... you're going toget snow leopards going between Tajikistan, Pakistan and Chinathrough the Wakhan valley, so it's a key, key area. Itsimportance far outweighs its physical size," Smallwood said.
When the U.S. embassy's Miller first moved to Afghanistanhe discovered a widespread practice of selling endangeredanimal parts to foreigners.
"There were threatened and endangered species beingmarketed to international personnel, not only military but aidmission folks and anybody visiting the bazaar," said Miller.
In a bid to stop poaching of snow leopards, the U.S.embassy and the WCS targeted the buyers.
"We decided that one of the quickest ways of trying toaddress this issue was to go after the demand. The onlyindividuals that are actually able to purchase these thingswere internationals," Miller told Reuters.
Snow leopard pelts can sell for up to $1500, well beyondthe means of most Afghans.
Since August last year, Miller and the WCS have beeneducating military and civilian staff, in particular those incharge of mail services, on how to recognize endangered andthreatened animal furs as well as conducting "raids" on U.S.military bases.
The raids have yielded products from endangered speciesincluding snow leopards, said Miller, but he stressed the U.S.military was very "cooperative" in trying to combat the trade.
Within two weeks of their first training session on a U.S.base just outside Kabul, the military had managed to "virtuallyeliminate" any trade of these products on the base, he said.
Local traders who offer their wares on military bases areissued with a warning if they are caught selling the furs andare barred from returning if caught again.
Because of the structured nature of the military, saidSmallwood, it is easier to get the message delivered.
"The harder part is trying to deliver the message to therest of the international community, which we're working on,"he said.
But the threats to the snow leopard still remain.
"With numbers this low I wouldn't want to say ...if we justfix this problem the rest is fine. All of these problems needto be dealt with. Losing 10 animals could be as much as 10percent of the population," Smallwood said.
(Editing by Megan Goldin)
