Down To Earth speaks to snow leopard expert Koustubh Sharma on the findings of the latest government report on the enigmatic cat
A snow leopard. Photo: iStock
The Government of India released Status Report of Snow Leopards in India on January 30, 2024. The report is based on the assessment conducted by The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) over four years (2019-2023). The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, is the national coordinator for SPAI. Non-profits Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru and World Wildlife Fund for Nature-India are its partners.
The report brought out several new insights on the status of snow leopards in India. The ‘grey ghost of the Himalayas’ has for long remained in the realm of myth and folklore given that it inhabits some of the toughest terrain in the world. The snow leopard in India has also been frequently overshadowed by its cousins such as the Bengal Tiger, Asiatic Lion and Indian Leopard.
But now, the habitat of the snow leopard — The Third Pole — is in the global spotlight. It provides water for billions of people across Asia. Conserving the apex predator of The Third Pole means saving the Pole itself. Which is why the new central report is so important.
Down To Earth spoke to Bishkek-based Koustubh Sharma. He is the International Coordinator of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP), Bishkek. Sharma works with the Snow Leopard Trust as their Senior Regional Ecologist assisting various research, conservation and monitoring programs spread across snow leopard range countries. Edited excerpts:
Rajat Ghai (RG): What do you make of the number of snow leopards estimated by the report?
Koustubh Sharma (KS): The report presents a body of work from various organisations that came together and partnered with the Government of India to deliver on this Herculean task. I am also impressed by the authors who have identified caveats with certain datasets, rather than concealing them, and also identified way forward for future surveys. Personally, I would have preferred additional details about the survey design, analysis and modelling approaches followed for the sake of replicability and advancement of scientific method. But I am sure the authors will be sharing those soon in other scientific publications.
RG: Much of the snow leopard range in India is unprotected. What can be done to rectify this state of affairs?
KS: Snow leopards have large home ranges and more than 90 per cent of the Protected Areas (PA) across the world are too small to have a viable population of snow leopards. The way to conserve snow leopards successfully is to follow community partnership models, where they are active partners in conservation through one or more community-based conservation programmes, irrespective of whether they are within or outside PAs. The snow leopard landscapes identified under the GSLEP program, the Upper Spiti Landscape defined by Himachal Pradesh, etc are such multi-use landscapes where development and conservation can go hand-in-hand by following a conservation-friendly development model.
RG: The report also talks about the need for a dedicated Snow Leopard Cell at WII, Dehradun. How soon can this be a reality?
KS: In my understanding, a dedicated snow leopard cell is long-pending that shall be resolved now that the country has seen a spectacular show of collaboration between government agencies, universities and non-governmental actors to deliver on SPAI. The structure, organisational responsibilities and location of such a dedicated snow leopard cell can be discussed and agreed upon between government and all organisations and universities that have supported implementation of SPAI.
RG: What about partnerships with India’s neighbouring countries on the snow leopard? What is the current status?
KS: We acknowledge that a third of the world’s snow leopards are within 100 km from international borders and hence mandate trans-boundary cooperation. India already is an active member of the GSLEP. This unique alliance facilitates sharing best practices, experiences and challenges among neighbouring countries.
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