India's first-ever Snow Leopard Population Assessment recorded 718 snow leopards across the Indian Himalayas, with Ladakh alone hosting 477, making it the single largest habitat. The survey was conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India under the Snow Leopard Conservation Programme. Snow leopards are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, giving them the highest domestic legal protection.

The Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) is the country's first scientifically rigorous, range-wide estimate of snow leopard numbers. It used camera traps, sign surveys, and occupancy modelling across five Himalayan states and union territories — Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), led the effort.

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) inhabit high-altitude zones between 3,000–5,400 metres. They are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List — a downlisting from Endangered in 2017 — and are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Appendix I of CITES. India is a signatory to the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP), which aims to secure 23 snow leopard landscapes across 12 range countries by 2020 and beyond.

Ladakh's dominance (477 of 718, or roughly 66%) reflects its vast, relatively undisturbed high-altitude terrain. The survey matters beyond species conservation: snow leopards are apex predators that regulate prey populations like bharal (blue sheep) and ibex, and their presence indicates healthy high-altitude ecosystem function — directly linked to glacier and watershed health that sustains rivers critical to rural livelihoods.