Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh has emerged as the leader in the Northeast when it comes to the population of snow leopards in the region.
According to a survey — Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) — Arunachal Pradesh emerges as the number one in the Northeast, with the highest density of snow leopards in the region.
The study from 2019 to 2023 involved a dedicated effort to estimate and understand the elusive snowy owl populations that are critical to their conservation.
Arunachal Pradesh has an estimated of 36 snow leopards whereas Sikkim has 21 of them and both these states contribute 57 of the total 718 snow leopards in the country.
Rishi Kumar Sharma, Lead Snow Leopard Program at WWF India, emphasizes the difficulties, citing temperatures dropping below -10 degrees and rapidly depleting oxygen levels at altitudes ranging from 3000 to 5600 meters.
A total of 241 unique snow leopards were photographed during the SPAI exercise, with Arunachal Pradesh contributing 8 and Sikkim 14 to the count.
A total of 2,400-km trail was surveyed to record snow leopard signs in the state. Cameras were deployed at 115 locations for 8,775 trap nights.
Also, around 22,616 km of effective areas have been sampled for snow leopard occupancy, prey, and habitat.
The Union Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav released the SPAI report during the National Board for Wildlife meeting held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The SPAI survey is the first-ever scientific exercise that reported a snow leopard population of 718 individuals in India.
The state of Ladakh takes the lead with the highest snow leopard population at 477, followed by Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51), Arunachal Pradesh (36), Sikkim (21), and Jammu and Kashmir (9).
In a statement, the ministry informed that the survey was done using a two-step framework. “The first step involved evaluating snow leopard spatial distribution, incorporating habitat covariates into the analysis, aligning with the guidelines of the national population assessment of snow leopards in India by the environment, forest & climate change ministry in 2019. This systematic approach included assessing the spatial distribution through an occupancy-based sampling approach in the potential distribution range,” the ministry informed.
The snow leopard is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its numbers in the wild face multiple threats — from habitat loss and poaching to infrastructure development.