Proposal to introduce snow leopard to South Island 'crazy'iStock Snow leopards are beautiful creatures, but probably not suited to the High Country. Farmers and trampers are laughing off a proposal to launch snow leopards into the High Country. "As a High Country farmer you'd be worried about your livestock and your own welfare for that matter, this would actually become a health and safety issue. "I used to joke that to keep down the numbers of people climbing in the High Country they could always introduce an invasive species such as a grizzly bear or snow leopard," he said. Snow leopards are found in 12 countries—including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and Mongolia — but the population is dropping according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Source: Stuff March 23, 2018 03:40 UTC