India’s snow leopard count: Why this Himalayan feat is only the first step to securing the cat
Context- The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) conducted between 2019 and 2023 estimated a population of 718 snow leopards across Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. This study significantly improved our understanding of this keystone species.
Snow leopards are thought to inhabit approximately 100,000 square kilometers of the higher Himalayan terrains in India. As recently as 2016, the status of the snow leopard was unknown in about one-third of its range, which aligns with its reputation as the elusive ‘ghost of the mountains’.
For the survival of this ‘ghost’, and considering that the future of most species is increasingly influenced by human actions, it was necessary to understand the status of the snow leopard across its range to formulate appropriate policies. This is also crucial for our future as the snow leopard’s habitat is the source of all major Himalayan rivers that sustain life across much of India.
However, a national effort to count snow leopards, or ‘studying abundance’, across its range remained challenging on multiple fronts.
The challenges in counting snow leopards
- The primary challenge in studying snow leopards is the harsh terrain they inhabit, including the cold deserts of Ladakh and Spiti and the higher Himalayas above the tree line between altitudes of 10,500 to 17,000 feet.
- Much of this habitat is inaccessible by motorable roads, and the thin air makes even routine fieldwork challenging.
- Analyzing camera-trapped photos presents another obstacle. While specialized software can identify unique individuals in species like tigers, zebras, or leopards by comparing patterns, this method is less effective with snow leopards.
- Researchers have long struggled with misidentifying individual snow leopards due to their thick fur and the varying angles at which their bodies are photographed.
- To address this, researchers globally recommend manual evaluation using at least three marking patterns to differentiate between individuals, and employing multiple independent analysts for identification.
- The head and tail of a snow leopard provide the best reference points for identification. Some researchers have tried to position cameras strategically to capture the forehead region of snow leopards, as was done in Ladakh during the SPAI exercise.
- However, this requires multiple camera traps at each location and can strain resources.
The exercise
- The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) report, prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in partnership with the Nature Conservation Foundation and WWF-India, outlines the challenges and results of estimating snow leopard populations.
- The study was conducted over three years, using photographs from 1,971 camera trap locations to identify 241 unique individuals, leading to an estimated population of 718 snow leopards in India.
- In Ladakh, 126 unique adult individuals were identified from 10,789 images captured at 956 locations, leading to an estimated population of 477 across 47,572 sq km.
- In Jammu and Kashmir, only 9 unique individuals were identified, and the data set was insufficient for a comprehensive estimate across 949 sq km.
- In Himachal Pradesh, 44 unique individuals were identified, leading to an estimated population of 51 across 25,000 sq km. Uttarakhand estimated a population of 124 from 41 unique individuals identified across 12,768 sq km.
- In the eastern Himalayas, Arunachal Pradesh estimated a population of 36 from 8 unique snow leopards identified across 14,156 sq km. In Sikkim, 14 unique individuals were identified, leading to an estimated population of 21 snow leopards across 400 sq km.
The outlook for snow leopards
- In the 1980s, the global population of snow leopards was estimated to be between 4,000 and 7,500, with 400 to 700 individuals in India. In the 1990s, another estimate put the Indian population at 200 to 600 out of a global count of 3,020 to 5,390.
- In 2016, India’s leading snow leopard researchers estimated the national population at 516 (range 238-1039).
- The current count of 718 (range 594-825) suggests overall population stability. However, this is just the beginning of understanding the species, its dispersal, competitive land use patterns, and mortality trends at a landscape level.
- Infrastructure development, especially highways and hydropower projects, is leading to a rapid influx of labor camps in the higher Himalayas. These camps often rely on scarce natural resources for fuel and food.
- This migration, coupled with a boom in tourism in snow leopard areas, has led to garbage mismanagement, which is fueling an increase in the free-ranging dog population that competes with snow leopards.
- While climate change is likely to determine the long-term fate of the snow leopard, mitigating the impact of these rapid demographic changes is essential to secure its immediate future.
