Geographical

NATURE

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There are more than 3,700 species of plants in Uzbekistan, of which 20 per cent are endemic. Most grow in the mountains with only a few capable of withstandi­ng the desert, where various species of tarantulas, beetles, and scorpions make a home. In the mountains, wolves, sheep, goats and bears roam.

The country’s most famous inhabitant is the snow leopard, which appears as a mythical winged creature on the seal of the city of Samarkand. Only found in 12 countries, all of which are in Central Asia, it is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a global population estimated at fewer than 10,000. The major threat is poaching and the subsequent illegal trade in skin and body parts. Climate change is also causing a shift in the treeline of the Himalaya with the result that the alpine zone is shrinking. It is estimated that there are 10,000 sq km of habitable land for the leopards in Uzbekistan, with between 30 and 120 individual­s living in the region. Uzbekistan has come together with its neighbours to form the Global Snow Leopard Forum, a conservati­on initiative that has committed to securing 20 landscapes across the cat’s range by 2020.

Bradt’s Uzbekistan guidebook

(2019; bradtguide­s.com)

 ??  ?? In the small village of Kumyshkang a woman rests inside her shop
In the small village of Kumyshkang a woman rests inside her shop

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