Year-Round Presence of Snow Leopards Confirmed in Jammu & Kashmir
Landmark Study Brings New Hope for High-Altitude Biodiversity
NEW DELHI- In a breakthrough for wildlife conservation in India, a three-year camera-trapping study has confirmed the year-round presence and breeding activity of snow leopards in Jammu & Kashmir. The findings offer renewed hope for high-altitude biodiversity conservation in the fragile Himalayan ecosystems.
The survey, jointly conducted by the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) and the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu & Kashmir, was supported by Royal Enfield Social Mission under the Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) protocol.
Between 2022 and 2025, researchers carried out over 3,000 camera trap nights across the Kishtwar High Altitude National Park, Paddar, and Zojila, recording 12 adult snow leopards and estimating the presence of up to 20 individuals. Significantly, the presence of a mother with cubs in Kishtwar confirms the existence of a breeding population.
“The “Kishtwar Himalayas” must now be treated as an interconnected conservation landscape,” said Dr. Shahid Hameed, Project Coordinator at NCF, stressing the importance of sustained protection efforts.
The study also documented 16 other mammal species, including the Himalayan brown bear, Himalayan wolf, Kashmir musk deer, Asiatic ibex, and red fox. Notably, camera traps even captured instances of snow leopards and common leopards in the same areas, raising critical questions about climate change-driven range shifts and species interactions.
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Beyond biodiversity data, the project included a landscape-level threat assessment. Interviews with over 300 households in Paddar, Warwan, Dacchan, and Marwah highlighted livestock depredation and crop damage as key challenges, shaping community attitudes toward wildlife.
To address this, the team conducted six outreach workshops with over 1,200 participants, including students and frontline forest staff, focusing on biodiversity awareness, conflict mitigation, and conservation education.
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Vigyat Singh, Director of Operations, Eicher Group Foundation, emphasized:
“Snow leopards are more than just an indicator species — conserving their habitat reflects the overall health and resilience of high-altitude ecosystems.”
The report underscores the urgent need for landscape-level adaptive conservation strategies, aligning with Project Snow Leopard and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which stress community involvement in conservation.
The study highlights the Himalayan landscape of J&K as a critical stronghold for snow leopards, with immense ecological, cultural, and conservation significance.
