Snow Leopard
Published on 10 Apr 2025
- The Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently released a report on the Status of Snow Leopards in India.
- Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) belong to the genus Panthera in the family Felidae and are native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia with 60% now found in China.
- Their habitat spans across the mountainous regions of 12 countries in Asia, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
- In India, protected areas such as Hemis National Park (Ladakh), Gangotri National Park (Uttarakhand), Khangchendzonga National Park (Sikkim), and Great Himalayan National Park (HP) are known to be habitats for snow leopards.
- Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI), began in 2019 and involves the World Wide Fund for Nature India and the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore along with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
Highlights of the report
- There is a total of 718 snow leopards in India.
- Ladakh has the most number with 477 followed by Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51), Arunachal Pradesh (36), Sikkim (21), and Jammu and Kashmir (9).
Conservation Status
- IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
- CITES: Appendix I
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 : Schedule I