Call to protect snow leopards as India’s first national survey estimates population at 718
India is home to about 718 snow leopards, the country’s first survey of the wildcats has found.
Snow leopards are a threatened species found in 12 countries, mainly in the cold, arid parts of the Himalayas.
In India, the animals are spread across northern and north-eastern states.
The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India programme was carried out between 2019 and 2023, led by the Environment Ministry.
It was conducted as part of the Population Assessment of the World’s Snow Leopards (Paws), a global effort to determine the population of the wildcats.
Scientists set up camera traps covering 120,000 square kilometres of habitat. Their report was released by Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, on Tuesday.
“Until recent years, the snow leopard range in India was undefined due to a lack of extensive nationwide assessments for this vulnerable species,” the ministry said.
The findings raise hopes of a stable population of the animals in the country.
Scientists found 477 snow leopards in Ladakh, 124 in Uttarakhand, 51 in Himachal Pradesh, 36 in Arunachal Pradesh, 21 in Sikkim and nine in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Before 2016, approximately one third of the range, around 100,347 square kilometres, received minimal research attention, reduced to just five per cent in pockets like Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh,” the ministry said.
The report said consistent monitoring is essential to ensuring snow leopards’ longterm survival.
It suggested states work to provide population estimates every four years to identify challenges, address threats and formulate effective conservation strategies. India’s goal is to use the survey as a starting point for a long-term population study that will improve monitoring said Mr Yadav. Officials compared it to the country’s successful tiger revival campaign, which began in the 1970s.
Snow leopards are classified as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. They live at altitudes of between 3,000m and 5,400m above sea level.
There are an estimated 4,500 snow leopards in the world, but their survival is threatened by poaching, climate change, infrastructure development and the depletion of high-altitude pastures.
India’s goal is to use the assessment as a starting point for a long-term population study that will improve monitoring