Recently, a group of scientists has captured four snow leopards (Panthera uncia) on camera in Kishtwar High Altitude National Park of the Union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir’s Chenab Valley region.
- India is home to two per cent of the global range of the snow leopard. The least well-known large felid is an apex predator and flagship species of High Mountain Asia.
- India is home to 718 snow leopards, most of whom live in areas that are not under legal protection, according to findings released by the Centre in January this year.
- The iconic snow leopards are called ‘grey ghost of the mountains’.
- Kishtwar High Altitude National Park is located in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. Kishtwar, along with Doda and Ramban, forms the Chenab Valley region of the UT.
- Above a height of 4,300 m, the protected area becomes inaccessible because of the rugged terrain and extreme weather.
- Besides the snow leopard, it is also home to Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica), Himalayan musk deer (Moschus leucogaster) and wolves.
- The Kishtwar High Altitude National Park is potential snow leopard habitat. It connects three Himalayan landscapes: the greater Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir, the trans-Himalayas of Ladakh (through Zanskar) and the lesser Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh.
