Survey surprise: How 60% of Ladakh's 477 snow leopards coexist with humans

India Today

08-05-2025

Ladakh hosts 477 snow leopards, two-thirds of the country's total population of these wild cats. The finding has emerged from the most comprehensive survey, spanning 59,000 sq km, of snow leopards in India to date.According to the Status Reports of Snow Leopards in India, released by the Union government in January 2024, the snow leopard population in the country stood at 718.advertisementThe study, conducted by Ladakh's Department of Wildlife Protection, goes deeper into the population status in Ladakh. It found the density of snow leopards varying between one and three individuals per 100 sq km. Remarkably, the Hemis National Park in the region was found to have the most concentrated presence of snow leopards globally.Despite the elusive nature of the animal, the study found that six of every 10 snow leopards in Ladakh coexisted alongside human habitations. This underlines the need for inclusive conservation strategies balancing traditional pastoralism and modern development.
The reason for this unlikely coexistence is the resource-rich grasslands with a moderate climate and complex terrain, which tended to be home to a higher number of snow leopards, possibly due to greater availability of prey and the strong coexisting culture of Buddhist communities in the region.advertisementThe study, titled 'Comprehensive assessment of snow leopard distribution and population in the Indian Trans-Himalaya, Ladakh', was published on May 7 in the open-access journal PLOS One. It is co-authored by P. Raina, N.A. Mungi, U. Kumar, A.D. Rathi, N.H. Khan and D.A. Patel.The coexistence, however, is not without troubles. Incidents of snow leopards killing livestock continue to be reported from villages. It was during the Covid-19 lockdown that this conflict really surfaced as reduced human activity encouraged movement of the wild cats near villages. Nine cases of conflict were reported over two months in 2020, compared to two the previous year. At the time, six snow leopards were captured and held at Leh's rescue centre for 15-30 days for livestock attacks.Explaining the complexities of the snow leopard enumeration, Pankaj Raina, lead author of the study and Leh's wildlife warden, said: 'India has been monitoring its tiger population since 2006 with scientific rigour. This is the first time that the same statistical design and methodology have been used to assess snow leopards. The challenges were formidable due to the extreme climate, high altitude and rugged terrain.'The snow leopards report of the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change had covered over 70 per cent of the potential snow leopard range in the country. Snow leopards are found in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.advertisementThe new study, while reconfirming the count in Ladakh, covered a more exhaustive area and generated a national photo library of snow leopards that could help conservationists monitor poaching and trafficking.Snow leopard presence was positively correlated with wild prey (blue sheep, urial, ibex), livestock encounter rates and terrain ruggedness, and negatively with human settlement density. High snow leopard density in productive multi-use areas, coupled with threats from land-use changes, climate shifts and poaching, underscored the need for protecting these habitats, promoting ecotourism and reintroducing prey species to depleted areas.The study's double-sampling approach, combining 6,149 km of occupancy surveys and 956 camera traps (97,313 trap nights), sets a new standard for large-scale, repeatable snow leopard assessments while addressing potential biases in prior studies and aligning with PAWS (Population Assessment of the World's Snow Leopards) guidelines. It involved analysing photos using artificial intelligence to identify individual snow leopards based on the distinctive pattern of markings on their foreheads.'To photograph snow leopards' foreheads, we had to make them pose in front of our cameras. This was done by spraying a small amount of perfume just below the cameras deployed near their favoured scent-marking rocks on the high ridge tops. The curious leopards lowered their heads to smell the novel smell, and we had our prized photos,' recalled Raina.advertisementFingerprinting Snow Leopards, a special pattern recognition software that fits a three-dimensional model on the snow leopard's forehead image, extracts the spot patterns and stores them in a database for comparing with other snow leopard photographs, thereby offering close matches. 'This reduced our work many fold and improved the accuracy of correct individual identification, which is crucial for population estimation using statistical models,' added Raina.Subscribe to India Today Magazine