The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan has strongly opposed a proposed plan to relocate endangered snow leopards from the country’s northern regions to the Moscow Zoo. Instead, the organization is urging the government to focus on enhancing local rehabilitation efforts.
Snow leopards are notoriously difficult to track due to their elusive nature, making population estimates across their Central and South Asian range challenging. A WWF report from 2020 suggests there are fewer than 7,000 snow leopards left globally, with an estimated 200 to 420 residing in Pakistan’s mountainous areas, including Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement released on Saturday, WWF-Pakistan confirmed it had formally communicated its opposition to the Ministry of Climate Change, objecting to the proposed transfer of two snow leopards from the Naltar Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Gilgit-Baltistan to Russia.
The organization stressed that such an action would breach national and international conservation laws and could set a troubling example for future exports of endangered species.
“WWF-Pakistan is deeply concerned about this proposal and calls for its immediate cancellation,” the statement read.
WWF called on the government to demonstrate its commitment to preserving the country’s unique wildlife and to honor obligations under international conservation treaties.
Snow leopards are listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List and receive full legal protection under Pakistan’s wildlife laws, including in Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK. They are also protected under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which bans international trade except under rare, non-commercial circumstances.
The organization argued that there is no valid conservation justification for relocating the animals to Russia, a nation that already has a larger wild population of snow leopards.
Instead, WWF-Pakistan encouraged national authorities to lead by example and safeguard the species within its native habitat.
Concerns were also raised about the lack of control and accountability over the leopards’ well-being once they are transferred abroad.
WWF-Pakistan’s Director General, Hammad Naqi Khan, warned that allowing the export would reverse significant conservation efforts and harm Pakistan’s international reputation.
“Pakistan must fulfill its duties under global agreements such as CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species by focusing on in-country protection of its threatened species,” Khan emphasized.
