Snow Leopard
Ghost of the mountains
No photo available for Snow Leopard
Population
4,000–6,500 individuals
Location
Mountain ranges of Central Asia, from Afghanistan to China
Overview
Snow leopards are so elusive that even in areas where they are known to live, researchers can go years without a direct sighting. They inhabit some of the harshest, most remote terrain on Earth — the high mountain ranges of Central Asia — and are solitary to the point of being nearly mythical. Their range spans 12 countries, making coordinated conservation uniquely complex.
Why they're at risk
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Retaliatory killing after snow leopards prey on livestock, which is the primary source of income for many herder communities in their range.
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Poaching for their beautiful coat and for use in traditional medicine.
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Climate change is pushing their high-altitude habitat upward, reducing its total area and increasingly fragmenting it.
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Prey depletion from overhunting of wild sheep and ibex forces leopards to turn to livestock.
Reasons for hope
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Snow leopards were downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2017, reflecting genuine population stabilization in some areas.
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The 12-country Snow Leopard Range Country governments signed a unified conservation agreement in 2013.
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Livestock insurance and compensation programs have sharply reduced retaliatory killing in Nepal, India, and Mongolia.
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Camera trap studies have revealed a higher population density in some areas than previously believed.