Snow Leopard Population in India Surveyed for the First Time

For the first time, India has completed a survey of snow leopards, finding an estimated 718 cats living in the country.

Snow leopards live in a harsh environment, high in the Himalayas. That has long made it difficult for scientists to study these animals, let alone complete a thorough survey. The first-ever Snow Leopard Population Assessment provides more insight into the snow leopard population and their habitat.

“India’s study marks a leap forward, not just for the 718 majestic cats counted, but for conservation itself,” Dechen Dorji, senior director for Asia, Wildlife Conservation at World Wildlife Fund-US, said in a statement. “This landmark effort, spanning vast and rugged Himalayan terrain, provides crucial data to guide their protection. It’s a triumph of collaboration, perseverance, and scientific rigor, offering immense hope for safeguarding this elusive protector of the High Himalayas. It marks an important milestone in our collective efforts to ensure their survival and that their landscapes thrive for generations to come.” 

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To complete an estimate on the snow leopard population, scientists used about 2,000 camera traps and surveyed more than 10 million acres of their habitat, according to World Wildlife Fund. Scientists worked on the survey from 2019 to 2023, the BBC reported.

The survey determined the highest number of snow leopards in Ladakh, with 477. Uttarakhand followed with 124. Scientists estimated 51 snow leopards in Himachal, 36 in Arunachal Pradesh, 21 for Sikkim, and 9 snow leopards in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, snow leopards are currently listed as vulnerable with a decreasing population trend. Snow leopards were listed as endangered until 2017, when they were downgraded to vulnerable. The Snow Leopard Trust, a Seattle-based non-profit organization, was critical of the move, noting that “less than 2% of the species’ range has ever been sampled for abundance using reliable techniques, and those data are biased toward high-density areas,” highlighting a need for improved habitat surveying.

In 2020, IUCN estimated there to be around 7,500 remaining snow leopards in the wild. Snow leopards are threatened by urban development, agriculture, poaching and climate change that affects their habitat.

India’s snow leopard survey follows first-time snow leopard surveys from Mongolia and Bhutan as scientists work to determine snow leopard populations and highlight the importance of their habitats. Since Bhutan’s first survey in 2016, there has been a 39.5% increase in snow leopards in the country, revealing how important these surveys can be for snow leopard conservation. 

India’s latest survey adds to the Population Assessment of the World’s Snow Leopards, a worldwide project designed to create a more accurate estimate of the remaining snow leopards in the wild.