Status of Snow Leopards in India Report

• The Status of Snow leopards in India report was released recently by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change (MoEFCC).
• The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) Program is the first-ever scientific exercise that reports Snow leopard population of 718 individuals in India.
• 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 and two conservation partners, the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru and WWF-India.
• The SPAI systematically covered over 70% of the potential snow leopard range in the country, involving forest & wildlife staff, researchers, volunteers, and contributions from knowledge partners.
• Covering approximately 120,000km² of crucial Snow leopard habitat across the trans-Himalayan region, including UTs of Ladakh and J & K, and states such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Based on data analysis, the estimated population in different states are as follows-
  • Ladakh (477), Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51), Arunachal Pradesh (36), Sikkim (21), and Jammu and Kashmir (9).

ABOUT SNOW LEOPARD (PANTHERA UNCIA)

• The Snow Leopard is an apex predator in Himalayan ecosystem.
• Also known as Ghost of Mountain.
• Habitat includes 12 snow leopard range countries -Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• It is also the State animal of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
• They play a key role of an indicator species of the health of their high-altitude habitat
• Threats include- poaching, habitat loss, declining prey, Human-wildlife conflict and warming in the mountains.
• Protection Status
  • IUCN Red List –Vulnerable
  • WPA 1972- Schedule-I
  • CITES- Appendix I