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What happened
On International Snow Leopard Day, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh reaffirmed India's commitment to snow leopard conservation. India is home to an estimated 718 snow leopards, the second-largest population globally after China. The species is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. India participates in the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme and runs Project Snow Leopard since 2009 for high-altitude Himalayan habitat conservation.
02 Understand
Why it matters
The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) occupies a unique ecological niche as an apex predator of high-altitude Central and South Asian mountain ecosystems, found above 3,000 metres. Its conservation carries layered exam relevance across multiple frameworks.
IUCN STATUS: The snow leopard was downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2017 — a distinction examiners use to test whether aspirants conflate 'rare' with 'threatened.' Vulnerable is still a threatened category under IUCN (the threatened categories are Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered).
INDIA'S RANGE STATES: Snow leopards are found across 12 Indian states and Union Territories — primarily Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. India has the second-largest population after China.
PROJECT SNOW LEOPARD: Launched in 2009 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), it mirrors the administrative model of Project Tiger and Project Elephant, focusing on landscape-level conservation and community participation in Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan regions.
GLOBAL FRAMEWORK: The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) was launched in 2013 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with 12 range countries including India. Its target: secure 20 viable snow leopard landscapes (Landscapes of Hope) by 2020.
WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT: Listed in Schedule I, giving it the highest legal protection — hunting is a cognizable offence.
INTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD DAY: October 23, established by GSLEP at its 2013 Bishkek Declaration.
IUCN STATUS: The snow leopard was downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2017 — a distinction examiners use to test whether aspirants conflate 'rare' with 'threatened.' Vulnerable is still a threatened category under IUCN (the threatened categories are Vulnerable, Endangered, and Critically Endangered).
INDIA'S RANGE STATES: Snow leopards are found across 12 Indian states and Union Territories — primarily Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. India has the second-largest population after China.
PROJECT SNOW LEOPARD: Launched in 2009 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), it mirrors the administrative model of Project Tiger and Project Elephant, focusing on landscape-level conservation and community participation in Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan regions.
GLOBAL FRAMEWORK: The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) was launched in 2013 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, with 12 range countries including India. Its target: secure 20 viable snow leopard landscapes (Landscapes of Hope) by 2020.
WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT: Listed in Schedule I, giving it the highest legal protection — hunting is a cognizable offence.
INTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD DAY: October 23, established by GSLEP at its 2013 Bishkek Declaration.
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