Human beings are no stranger to extinctions, where entire species 【小题1】. In the last 500 million years, there have been five times when life on Earth has almost ended. According to scientists, we are now entering the Earth's sixth mass extinction, for which human activity will 【小题2】.

There is a long list of reasons why so many species 【小题3】: pollution, deforestation, farming and overfishing. It is clear that human activity has negatively affected all other species on Earth. If a sixth mass extinction occurs, scientists believe that 【小题4】 three quarters of all species on Earth could become extinct. In turn, as we humans depend on so many species for our survival, we would also be 【小题5】 extinction.

However, it's not too late to 【小题6】 now. We need to take steps to set up nature and wildlife reserves, make good use of wind and solar energy, and reduce our carbon footprint. 【小题7】, if we want to survive, we need to stop destroying the planet that we live on and start to protect it.

“When a snow leopard follows its prey (猎物) among the mountain walls, it moves... softly, slowly,” explains Indian biologist Raghunandan, who has studied animals for years. “If it knocks a stone loose, it will 【小题1】 out a foot to stop it from falling and making noise.” One might be moving right now, 【小题2】 silent, maybe close by. But where?

Best known for its 【小题3】 coat and long distinctive tail, the snow leopard is one of the world’s most secretive animals. These big cats can only be found high in the remote, 【小题4】 regions of Central Asia. For this reason, and because they hunt 【小题5】 at night, they are very rarely seen.

Snow leopards have been officially protected since 1975, but enforcing this law has proven difficult. Many continue to be killed for their fur and body parts, which are 【小题6】 a fortune on the black market. In recent years, though, conflict with local herders (牧人) has also led to a number of snow leopard deaths. This is because the big cats kill the herders’ animals, and drag the bodies away high up in the mountains to eat. Thus, the herders’ animals are in danger of snow leopard attacks, which can push those herders into desperate poverty. To address this problem, local religious leaders have called for an end to snow leopard killings, saying that these wild animals have the 【小题7】 to exist peacefully. They’ve also tried to 【小题8】 people that it is of great importance to protect those big cats.

As a result of these pressures, the 【小题9】 snow leopard population is estimated at only 4,000 to 7,000, and some fear that the actual number may already have dropped below 3,500．The only way to 【小题10】 this trend and bring these cats back from their threatened status, say conservationists, is to make them more valuable alive than dead.

A team of scientists led by Alejandro Arteaga, grantee of The Explorers Club Discovery Expeditions and researcher at Khamai Foundation, discovered three new cryptozoic (living underground) snakes dwelling under graveyards (墓地) and churches in remote towns in the Andes region of Ecuador.

It was an exploration that led to the most 【小题1】of places.

First published in the journal, Zookeys, Arteaga and his team named the small brown color-patterned snakes in honor of institutions or people supporting the exploration and【小题2】 of remote cloud forests in the tropics.

The Discovery Ground Snake (Atractus discovery) was found underground in a small graveyard. Two 【小题3】new species were found near an old church and inside a small school. Destruction of the snake’s native forest habitat may have forced them to 【小题4】 to these people-less areas according to Arteaga’s findings.

Atractus discovery was named to honor The Explorers Club Discovery Expedition Grants 【小题5】, a program seeking to foster scientific understanding for the betterment of humanity and all life on Earth and beyond. The grant program supports researchers and explorers from around the world in their quest to ease the climate change crisis, prevent the extinction of species and cultures, and【小题6】the health of the Earth and its inhabitants.

Atractus zgap was named in honor of the Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and Populations (ZGAP), a(n) 【小题7】 seeking to conserve unknown but highly endangered species and their natural environment.

Atractus michaelsabini was named in honor of Michael Sabin, grandson of American philanthropist and conservationist Andrew Sabin. Through conservation organization Re:wild, the Sabin family has supported field research of threatened reptiles and has protected thousands of acres of 【小题8】 habitat throughout the world.

“The discovery of these new snakes is only the first step towards a much larger conservation project,” says Arteaga. “We have already started the process of establishing a nature 【小题9】 to protect the ground snakes. This action would not have been possible without first unveiling the existence of these unique and cryptic reptiles, even if it meant 【小题10】 disturbing the peace of the dead in the graveyard where they lived.”