The Snow Leopard Trust aims to protect this endangered cat through community-based conservation projects that are based on an improved scientific understanding of snow leopard behavior, needs, habitats and threats.
Website: snowleopard.ngo
Thanks to thousands of supporters across the world, the Snow Leopard Trust’s international research team is studying this endangered cat and its behaviors and needs in five key range countries.
© Snow Leopard Trust / Netdsmerch
Known throughout the world for its beautiful fur and elusive behavior, the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is found in the rugged mountains of Central Asia.
© Snow Leopard Trust / Peter Bolliger
As the trade with snow leopard parts happens in the dark, data is hard to come by. Between 2008 and 2016 alone, one snow leopard has reportedly been killed and traded every day – 220 to 450 cats per year. The true extent of the problem is thought to be even bigger.
© Snow Leopard Trust / SLF Kyrgyzstan
Photos © Snow Leopard Trust
Conservation Programs
Snow leopards live in vast home ranges – some cats have been known to use up to 1,000 square kilometers. While it is important to secure their key habitats through Protected Areas, it simply isn’t enough.
To protect these endangered cats, we need to work at a larger landscape level, and find ways for snow leopards to coexist with the people sharing their habitat. This is the focus of our conservation approach.
Many of the families living in snow leopard habitat are herders who live on less than $2 per day and depend on their livestock for food and income. The snow leopard occasionally attacks and kills livestock, and members of these low-income communities sometimes resort to retaliation killings or poaching of snow leopards to protect their herds of livestock or earn extra money.
Our community-based conservation programs aim to break this cycle of poverty and create incentives for herders to protect local wildlife and ecosystems.