Snow leopard

The snow leopard is considered resilient to direct near-term climate impacts due to high temperature tolerance and dispersal ability, but remains potentially vulnerable due to small population size and indirect climate stressors. Key threats include poaching, habitat encroachment, and the potential for disease transmission from livestock and feral dogs. Recommended strategies focus on securing the prey base, filling knowledge gaps in genetics and disease, and helping human populations adapt to climate change to reduce retaliatory killings and habitat degradation.

• Snow leopards exhibit resilience to direct near-term climate impacts because they can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, have minimal freshwater needs, and possess high dispersal ability.
• Despite direct resilience, the species is potentially vulnerable to climate change due to a small population size (estimated between 4,000 and 7,500 individuals) and significant gaps in biological knowledge.
• Indirect climate impacts may worsen existing threats, as climate stressors on humans can lead to changes in livelihoods that increase poaching and habitat encroachment.
• The species faces high risks from non-climatic threats, including habitat fragmentation, poaching, hydroelectricity development, mining, road construction, and the growth of the cashmere goat population.
• Climate-adaptive management priorities include securing the prey base, increasing research on genetics and disease, expanding protected areas to include climate refugia, and promoting alternative livelihoods for local human populations.

APA

Advani, N. (2014). Snow leopard. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/809/5xb9gkfmyr_Snow_leopard___WWF_wildlife_and_climate_change_series.pdf

Chicago

Advani, Nikhil. Snow leopard. WWF International, 2014. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/809/5xb9gkfmyr_Snow_leopard___WWF_wildlife_and_climate_change_series.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Advani |first1=Nikhil |title=Snow leopard |publisher=WWF International |date=2014 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/809/5xb9gkfmyr_Snow_leopard___WWF_wildlife_and_climate_change_series.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{advani2014snow, author = {Advani, Nikhil}, title = {{Snow leopard}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/809/5xb9gkfmyr_Snow_leopard___WWF_wildlife_and_climate_change_series.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }