Around 718 snow leopards remain in the mountainous states of the country, according to the first-ever Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) over the last four years. India is believed to be home to at least 10 per cent of the global population of this elusive predator which is among the most endangered wildlife species.
Ladakh recorded the highest estimate of around 477 snow leopards, followed by 124 in Uttarakhand and 51 in Himachal Pradesh. Jammu and Kashmir recorded only nine. Western Ladakh and Spiti region in Himachal Pradesh was also found to have the best habitat suitability and high prey density for the high-altitude big cat which is rarely sighted, but has become an icon for the critically important Himalayan landscape.
The Eastern Himalayan states of Arunachal Pradesh recorded an estimate of 36 snow leopards, followed by around 21 in Sikkim. The four-year long assessment covered over 70 per cent of the potential snow leopard range in the country which stretches from an altitude of 3,200 to 5,200 metres. In Himachal Pradesh, Tabo, Hangrang and Spiti Valley exhibited the highest densities of snow leopards, while Bhaga recorded the lowest.
Rishi Kumar Sharma, head of the Himalayas Conservation Program of WWF-India, said the dwindling supply of wild prey, driven by competition with livestock and poaching, is proving to be the biggest threat for snow leopards. Linear infrastructure, retaliatory killings due to livestock predation, and environmental degradation linked to unregulated tourism pressures are other threats, he said.
“Climate change emerges as another formidable overarching menace, affecting mountain ecosystems and communities on multiple fronts. This includes challenges like water scarcity, diminished productivity in alpine grasslands, and the escalating frequency of severe weather events such as intense snowfall or prolonged droughts,” he added.
The team led by WII consisted of members from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Mysuru, and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India. It conducted the survey from 2019 to 2023, deploying camera traps in as many as 1,971 locations which were pre-determined. This eventually led to the identification of 241 unique snow leopards.
A two-step process was followed to arrive at the final estimate. The first step involved the evaluation of snow leopard spatial distribution through an occupancy-based sampling approach in the potential distribution range. In the second step, snow leopard abundance was estimated using camera traps in each identified stratified region.
The teams covered over 120,000 sq km of crucial snow leopard habitat across the trans-Himalayan region, covering the UTs of Ladakh and J&K, and states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The snow leopard occupancy was recorded in 93,392 km2, with an estimated presence in 100,841 km2.
Until recent years, the snow leopard range in India was undefined due to a lack of extensive nationwide assessments for this vulnerable species.
Before 2016, approximately one-third of the range received minimal research attention, reduced to just five per cent in pockets like Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. According to the team, recent status surveys have significantly increased understanding, providing preliminary information for 80 per cent of the range, compared to 56 per cent in 2016. Consistent monitoring is essential to ensure long-term survival of these elusive predators, which are identified as ‘Vulnerable’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) list.
Merely 4,000-7,500 are estimated to be surviving in the high altitudes of the Himalaya and Central Asian mountains, and facing tremendous human pressures. They are also included in the Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and are provided the highest legal protection under the provisions of the Act. The animals are facing immediate threats of habitat degradation due to tourism and infrastructural development in the Himalayas.
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