Snow leopards dwell excessive within the Himalayas—one of the least forgiving environments and among the many most difficult locations to review— making our important efforts to evaluate their inhabitants extremely tough. Fortunately, expert scientists in India accomplished the first-ever rigorous examination of the nation’s snow leopard inhabitants, estimating that 718 of those iconic huge cats dwell inside the nation’s borders.
Findings in the Snow Leopard Population Assessment will contribute to understanding snow leopard ecology and the significance of their high-altitude habits. India joins Bhutan and Mongolia as one of many first nations to ascertain their snow leopard inhabitants. India’s large-scale evaluation was extremely intensive and required surveying over 10 million acres of the habitat and deploying about 2,000 digicam traps that produced hundreds of photographs.
“India’s study marks a leap forward, not just for the 718 majestic cats counted, but for conservation itself,” said Dechen Dorji, senior director for Asia, Wildlife Conservation. “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.”
WWF-US collaborates intently with WWF-India and helps the capability to analysis and survey a few of the key landscapes important for the snow leopard. The report underscores the Himalayas’ important function as a refuge for snow leopards and emphasizes the significance of worldwide collaboration just like the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program.