Snow Leopard Trust

Presnel, one of the collared female snow leopards in our long-term study in Mongolia, killed an argali, the largest of the wild sheep. Our scientists estimate it weighed around 350 pounds (160 kg). Presnel weighs about 80 pounds (35 kg).

She shared it with her three cubs. Snow leopards stay near a large kill for several days, eating every few hours and keeping the ravens and vultures away.

Read about what else snow leopards eat, and why large male ibex are often the target: snowleopard.org/what-do-snow-leopards-eat/

Photo Caption: Photo of Presnel and cubs.

Photo Credit: Snow Leopard Trust and Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation

For decades, Pakistan’s snow leopard population was estimated from limited surveys, questionnaires, and expert judgment. In a recent Space Daily article, Kiran examines how years of camera trapping and genetic analysis have produced the country’s first robust nationwide baseline.

The article highlights that two independent methods arrived at remarkably similar estimates: 155 snow leopards from camera-trap data and 167 from genetic analysis. It also notes that the result is lower than many earlier estimates, while emphasizing that those earlier figures were based on very different and much more limited methods. The article cautions that this does not automatically mean the population has declined; the higher earlier figures may instead have been overestimates.

More in Space Daily:

https://spacedaily.com/k-for-decades-pakistans-snow-leopard-population-was-a-guess-put-somewhere-between-100-and-400-animals-from-questionnaires-and-expert-hunches-until-a-decade-long-survey-of-828-cameras-and-more-than-1/

For decades Pakistan's snow leopard population was a guess, put somewhere between 100 and 400 animals from questionnaires and expert hunches, until a decade-long survey of 828 cameras and more than 1,000 genetic s**t samples finally produced a... A decade of camera traps and genetic analysis finally replaced guesswork with hard numbers—revealing Pakistan's snow leopard population may be far smaller than conservationists hoped.

Sue Heim started volunteering at the San Diego Zoo eight years ago and fell for snow leopard cubs on sight. That interest grew into years of support for Snow Leopard Trust, and now into a place in her estate plan.

Sue once considered joining snow leopard fieldwork in Mongolia, but the cold nights in a research tent ruled that out. She found another way to back the research, staff, and conservation work happening in snow leopard habitat. "Sometimes you cannot always put your boots on the ground to help, but a legacy gift is the next best thing," she says.

Read Sue's story: https://snowleopard.org/a-legacy-for-snow-leopards/

A Legacy for Snow Leopards Sue Heim’s love of snow leopards began at the zoo and grew into a lifelong commitment to protect them. By including Snow Leopard Trust in her estate, she found a way to support the research, people, and conservation work she could not carry out in the field herself.

Secretive, Scattered, and Still Detectable

In the Bashqar Gol Biosphere Reserve in northern Pakistan, our partners at the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) are surveying wildlife by collecting the genetic traces animals leave behind in hair, skin, saliva, and s**t. Their teams collected 25 water samples from rivers and ponds, 24 soil samples from scrapes and resting sites, 19 air samples pulled through portable filters, and 12 s**t samples sealed in sterile tubes. In the lab, DNA is extracted and sequenced from each one.

Sequencing identifies which species have passed through the area and can also indicate what those animals have been eating, which habitats they use, and how their ranges overlap.

Snow leopards are secretive and thinly spread across enormous terrain, which makes them expensive and slow to survey by conventional means. eDNA is noninvasive, so no animals are disturbed in the process of collecting data. It is cheaper per sample and scales across a country where camera traps and transects are hard to deploy. Paired with traditional fieldwork, it gives conservation planners firmer ground to stand on.

In the Laspur Valley, 12 Community Wildlife Guards drawn from local villages patrol against poaching and illegal hunting, coordinate with the Wildlife Department, and raise awareness among their neighbors. The eDNA sampling shows which species are using the reserve. The guards patrol to prevent poaching.

Article by Jamiullah Khan:

https://snowleopard.org/next-gen-wildlife-tracking-in-pakistan

The Snow Leopard Trust partners with the Snow Leopard Foundation in Pakistan and with organizations in four other range countries on long-term research and community-based conservation to protect snow leopards and their habitat.

Next-Gen Wildlife Tracking in Pakistan The snow-capped mountains of northern Pakistan are home to some of the world’s most elusive species, from the iconic snow leopard to wolves, bears, and ibex. Protecting them is no easy task. They roam vast, rugged landscapes, often at low densities, making them difficult to track. Yet, our team at...

In Mongolia, an estimated 75–80% of snow leopard habitat lies outside protected areas.

That makes the people who live and work across these pastoral landscapes central to the future of snow leopards.

This week at UNCCD COP17 Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar, Dr. Nadia Mijiddorj of the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation , Snow Leopard Trust ’s partner organization in Mongolia, presented SLCF’s Community Responsible Area model for community-led land stewardship.

Community Responsible Areas begin with local priorities. Communities define and map an area, develop a practical management plan, work through agreements with local government and conservation partners, and help monitor what happens on the land.

Today, 36 Community Responsible Areas covering 23,648 km² are part of SLCF’s approach in Mongolia.

Snow Leopard Trust works in partnership with SLCF to support long-term conservation across Mongolia’s snow leopard landscapes. SLCF’s Community Responsible Area model connects land governance with conservation, livelihoods, community ranger monitoring, and the long-term stewardship of landscapes shared by people and snow leopards.

At dawn in Kibber, India, Tanzin Chhoyi watches the ridges above her village for snow leopards.

“I have seen the cat many times before,” she says.

Tanzin knows which slopes the cats use and where they are likely to appear. That local knowledge now supports a winter tourism economy that includes 13 homestays, 25 wildlife spotters, and around 30 women who sell handicrafts. Between 350 and 550 visitors come to Kibber each winter specifically to see snow leopards.

The relationship between the village and the cats has a difficult history. Thirty years ago, losing dozens of heads of livestock in a single corral attack could cause severe economic harm. Following one such attack, villagers killed the snow leopard responsible.

Over the following decades, Kibber residents worked with the Nature Conservation Foundation and Snow Leopard Trust on livestock insurance, predator-resistant corrals, grazing-free reserves, wildlife monitoring, and other approaches to coexistence. Community members now host visitors, work as wildlife spotters, identify cats in camera-trap images, sell locally made goods, and enforce village rules to reduce tourism’s impact.

Tourism has brought income and recognition, but residents also report litter, off-road driving, increased waste, and pressure from visitors who expect guaranteed sightings.

Read how Kibber’s community is shaping the future of snow leopard tourism:
https://snowleopard.org/when-the-world-comes-for-the-snow-leopard/

Nature Conservation Foundation Snow Leopard Trust

When the World Comes for the Snow Leopard At dawn, in winter, a snow leopard moves along a ridge above Kibber, in Spiti Valley, India. It picks its way across the rock the way it always has, unhurried, indifferent to the village below. Watching from the village is Tanzin Chhoyi. "I have seen the cat many times before," she says, "but the en...

Charudutt Mishra and Hem Sagar Baral, in their article Why Humans Need to Live with Snow Leopards, explain why the snow leopard cannot be protected within park boundaries. Collar data from Snow Leopard Trust's Long-Term Ecological Study (LTES) in Mongolia's South Gobi found home ranges 6 to 44 times larger than those reported in earlier studies. Most of its range is pasture that herding families graze. It kills their livestock, and they decide whether to kill it in retaliation.

Snow Leopard Trust builds long-term ethical and equal partnerships with communities sharing landscapes with the cats, on terms the communities set and enforce. Communities set aside grazing land as reserves and appoint their own rangers to patrol it. Snow Leopard Trust runs community-managed livestock insurance, builds predator-proof corrals, and supports livelihoods.

The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) takes the same position across the twelve range countries, identifying 24 large multiple-use landscapes where snow leopards and herding communities share the same ground. Snow Leopard Trust helped bring those governments together and works alongside them.

Read the article:
https://sankala.org/product/bigcats-magazine-july-august-edition-2026/

Snow Leopard Trust India Director Dr. Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi is the author of "The Ghost of the Mountains: Unraveling the Secrets of the Snow Leopard", a new book based on nearly two decades of fieldwork in India and Mongolia.

In a new *Sunday Times* review, James McConnachie considers how Kullu combines scientific research with firsthand accounts of snow leopards and the people who share their landscapes.

The review recognizes an important distinction in the book. Snow leopards are often portrayed as symbols of an empty, remote wilderness. Kullu writes from a Himalayan perspective, where the cats live near communities, prey on livestock, and remain part of people’s daily experience even when they are rarely seen.

McConnachie writes: “He puts flesh back on the ghost. And teeth, and claws, and fur.”

The book follows snow leopards through field observations, research, conflict, coexistence, development pressures, and climate change. The knowledge and experiences of Himalayan communities are part of that account, rather than background to the cats.

Read the review:
https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/ghost-mountains-unravelling-secrets-snow-leopard-kulbhushansingh-suryawanshi-review-k9z5ks9mz

Disclosure: The views expressed in The Ghost of the Mountains are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Snow Leopard Trust.

I spent 20 years on the trail of the elusive snow leopard In The Ghost of the Mountains Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi travels high in the Himalayas to understand snow leopards and understand the people they live among

The Dedicated Rangers Protecting Snow Leopards

When ranger Aibek received a tip about a snow leopard skin being sold in Kyrgyzstan, he worked with police and fellow rangers to track down the sellers. The snow leopard had been killed inside a protected area.

The case offers a closer look at what ranger work involves. Rangers patrol remote mountain areas, monitor wildlife, maintain camera traps, count prey, protect habitat, and respond to illegal hunting and other threats.

"Nature, wildlife such as snow leopards, are our treasure. We need to protect them," Aibek says. "They should be passed on safely to future generations."

We are grateful to Aibek and the rangers across Kyrgyzstan for their continued work protecting snow leopards and their habitat.

Read Aibek’s story and learn more about the people protecting snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan:

https://snowleopard.org/ranger-story-from-kyrgyzstan/

Protecting Snow Leopards: A Ranger's Story from Kyrgyzstan When Ranger Aibek* received a tip that someone was planning to sell a snow leopard skin at a local market in Kyrgyzstan's Talas region, he knew time was of the essence. Snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats, and a tip like this does not stay useful for long. Sellers move fast,...

The Guardian Reviews The Ghost of the Mountains

The review calls The Ghost of the Mountains “a compelling and intimate look” at the snow leopard and the realities of conserving the species.

Written by Kulbhushansingh “Kullu” Suryawanshi, Director of the Snow Leopard Trust's India Program, the book examines what snow leopard conservation requires in practice: rigorous field research, a clear understanding of predator-prey relationships, and conservation programs shaped by the people who live with the costs of sharing landscapes with a large carnivore.

The review highlights how Kullu moves beyond the mythology that often surrounds the snow leopard. He presents the cat as part of a complex high-mountain ecosystem, where livestock losses can have serious consequences for herding families and attitudes toward the species are neither simple nor uniform.

Its discussion of predator-proof corrals and compensation programs also shows why technical solutions alone are not enough. Kullu notes that women often care for livestock but may not benefit directly from compensation, even though they bear much of the impact when animals are lost. Effective conservation depends on understanding who carries those costs and involving them in the response.

These questions are central to SLT’s work: how research is conducted, how conservation decisions are made, and how solutions can respond to both the ecological and human realities of snow leopard landscapes.

As the review observes, Kullu’s account reveals the snow leopard as “no less wondrous” when seen clearly, within the landscapes and communities that shape its future.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/aug/05/the-ghost-of-the-mountains-by-kulbhushansingh-suryawanshi-review-the-secrets-of-the-snow-leopard

The Ghost of the Mountains by Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi review – the secrets of the snow leopard An Indian mountaineer follows in the footsteps of explorers and conservationists in search of an enigmatic animal