Arunachal is estimated to be home to 36 snow leopards
In a very encouraging report, 36 snow leopards are estimated to be living in Arunachal Pradesh.
This is according to the Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) survey report, which was conducted from 2019 to 2023 across India.
A total of 718 snow leopards are estimated to exist in India.
Based on survey analysis, Ladakh has the highest estimated population of animals (477), followed by Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51), Arunachal (36), Sikkim (21), and Jammu and Kashmir (9). Are. ,
In Arunachal, surveys were conducted in districts such as Tawang, Shi-Yomi, West Kameng, Anjaw, Dibang Valley and Changlang (Namdapha National Park).
A total of 2,400 km of track was surveyed to record signs of snow leopard in the state. Cameras were deployed at 115 locations for 8,775 trap nights. In addition, effective areas of approximately 22,616 km have been sampled for snow leopard foraging, hunting and habitat.
During the survey in Arunachal, snow leopard habitat was recorded in an area of 29,500 km and their estimated presence in an area of 14,156 km.
Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav released the SPAI report during the meeting of the National Wildlife Board held in New Delhi on Tuesday. The SPAI survey is the first scientific exercise that has reported a snow leopard population of 718 individuals in India.
Wildlife Institute of India was the national coordinator for the exercise which was conducted in collaboration with all snow leopard range states and two conservation partners: Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore (Karnataka) and WWF-India.
The SPAI covered more than 70 per cent of the potential snow leopard range in the country, involving contributions from forest and wildlife staff, researchers, volunteers and knowledge partners.
Covering approximately 1,20,000 km of critical snow leopard habitats in the trans-Himalayan region including the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir and the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal, the SPAI exercise was conducted from 2019 to 2023. Was. ,
In a statement, the ministry explained that the survey was conducted using a two-phase framework. “The first phase involved evaluating the spatial distribution of snow leopards, incorporating habitat covariates in the analysis, to align with the guidelines for the National Population Assessment of Snow Leopards in India by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2019. This systematic approach included assessment. Spatial distribution through occupancy-based sampling approach in the probable distribution range,” the ministry informed.
It said that, in the second phase, snow leopard abundance was estimated using camera traps in each identified stratified area.
The snow leopard is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Its numbers in the wild face many threats – from habitat loss and poaching to infrastructure development.
