Protecting the God’s Pet: Saving Snow Leopard in the Himalayas

The endangered Snow Leopard is found in the Himalayas and Central Asia. There are estimated 4,500-7,500 snow leopards in the wild. In Nepal there are about 300-500 Snow Leopards scattered across the remote, northern mountains. Their survival is threatened by habitat degradation, loss of natural prey, poaching, retaliatory killing by villagers and inadequate national level policies and conservation initiatives.

A key challenge faced by conservationists is that the inaccessible rugged terrain of Snow Leopard habitats makes scientific researches and conservation initiatives difficult and expensive. However, in the Shey Phoksundo National Park and in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, following a Snow Leopard and prey species survey in 1999, efforts have been directed towards local level monitoring and mitigating conflict between villagers and the snow leopard.