The snow leopard was seen at 12,500 feet near Kaza, Himachal Pradesh.
A fully grown snow leopard was sighted at an altitude of 12,500 feet near Kaza in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The animal was captured on camera by soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Snow leopards are also known as the “ghost of the mountains” since their colour and form make it hard to spot them. They are notoriously elusive and live in the snowy peaks of the Himalayas.
The video of this snow leopard was shared by news agency ANI on Twitter. So far, it has been viewed about 25,000 times.
Earlier, in February 2020, Indian Forest Services officer Susanta Nanda had shared footage of a snow leopard that was sighted at Hikkim village in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul and Spiti district. In the clip, we could see a snow leopard wandering down a snow-covered road near a tourist car.
In India, snow leopards are mostly found in the high-altitude, mountainous terrains of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust, these animals are among the “most endangered cats in the world”, and their population is dwindling. The Trust estimates the global snow leopard population to be between 3,500 and 7,000. India is believed to have a population of around 500 snow leopards, which could be found “in the higher reaches of Indian Himalaya”.
Poaching for its pelt and body parts, a decline in prey base and retaliatory killings by village communities whose livestock are killed for food by these predators are all major threats to snow leopards in India. Hydroelectric projects, mining, and climate change are among the more recent hazards.