E-Paper
India home to 718 snow leopards; nearly 70% of them in Ladakh: Survey
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav released the report , Status of Snow Leopards in India during the National Board for Wildlife meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday
There are around 718 snow leopards in the country, the first ever population estimation exercise of the vulnerable species by the Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) Program has found.
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav released the report , Status of Snow Leopards in India during the National Board for Wildlife meeting held in Delhi on Tuesday.
During the assessment conducted from 2019 to 2023, a total of 241 unique Snow leopards were photographed. Based on the analysis, Ladakh has the highest estimated population of the animal (477) followed by Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51), Arunachal Pradesh (36), Sikkim (21), and Jammu and Kashmir (9).
The study covered approximately 120,000 sq km of Snow Leopard habitat across the trans-Himalayan region, including Ladakh, J & K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh; surveyed 13,450 km of trails ; and deployed camera traps at 1,971 locations for 180,000 trap nights (each night a single camera is active). According to the environment ministry, the study estimated the presence of Snow Leopards in 100,841 sq km and recorded its presence in 93,392 sq km.
The estimation of Snow Leopard population is important because of the species’ role as an apex predator in the Himalayan ecosystem. As an apex predator, it exerts top down regulation of prey populations, thereby influencing the ecological equilibrium of its habitat.
The Snow Leopard is designated in the ‘vulnerable’ category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It faces multiple threats including overgrazing, human wildlife conflict, poaching, free-ranging dogs, habitat degradation, and climate change impacts.
The species is found in 12 countries, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and its global population is estimated at 3020 to 5390 , according to the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program.
The report also mentions the need for establishing a dedicated Snow Leopard Cell at Wildlife Institute of India, with primary focus on long-term population monitoring, supported by well-structured study designs and field surveys. “Consistent monitoring is essential to ensuring Snow Leopards’ long-term survival. For the same, states and UTs can consider adopting a periodic population estimation approach (every 4th year) in the Snow leopard range. These regular assessments will offer valuable insights for identifying challenges, addressing threats, and formulating effective conservation strategies,” the ministry added.
Snow Leopards are high-altitude rock specialists and have been recorded in high rocky areas, alpine meadows, alpine steppe shrub, and high altitude forests. They generally live above the tree line at elevations of 2,700-5,000 m.
During winter, the Snow Leopard may descend to lower elevations, but in summer moves back up mountains to the steepest and most remote terrain accoding to the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program .
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is the National Coordinator for this exercise that was carried out with support the support of all snow leopard range states, the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru and WWF-India.
