Ulaanbaatar, October 21, 2024 /MONTSAME/. Each year October 23 is remarked as the International Snow Leopard Day, to raise awareness and emphasize how crucial it is to conserve them.

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) range is only found in 12 countries in northern Asia. Therefore, the snow leopard is among the endangered species; hunting for the snow leopard is prohibited throughout the world. Mongolia hosts about 20 percent of the estimated global snow leopard population.

In anticipation of the International Snow Leopard Day, the WWF-Mongolia held a Promotion Day of Snow Leopard at Ulaanbaatar Park.

According to the first nationwide snow leopard survey, there are 953 (806 – 1127) of these adult big cats in Mongolia. WWF-Mongolia and its partners, including the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation, Snow Leopard Trust, and Irbis Mongolia Center conducted the large-scale study to assess the current range and the population size of snow leopards in Mongolia with support from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia. The assessment, initiated in 2017, was completed with more than 40 field surveys over 4 years, involving over 500 people: researchers from the partner organizations, the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, rangers from the State Protected Areas, and local citizens.

During the survey, 15 snow leopards were collared, and 1,475 camera traps were deployed at 29 mountains which provided photographic evidence of the elusive big cats across the habitat, confirming their presence. At the end of the survey, it was estimated that about 953 adult individuals, ranging from 806 to 1127, roam Mongolia, inhabiting approximately 328,900 square km area of the Altai, Sayan, Khangai Mountain ranges.

Known as a shy and mysterious big cat which is also incredibly well camouflaged, the snow leopard is an indicator of the health of the ecosystem. The presence of a healthy population of the big cat in Mongolia shows that high mountain ecosystems remain healthy, which is critical as they are the source of water for millions of people downstream.

Snow leopards are declining across their range due to a wide range of threats such as poaching and illegal trade, habitat loss due to overgrazing, depletion of prey species, and conflict between snow leopards and humans as well as climate change. A study on climate change to the snow leopard habitats showed that by 2100, 39 percent of the current snow leopard habitat in the world would be vulnerable to loss under a high emissions climate scenario, including the Gobi and Khangai regions of Mongolia, while Altai Sayan Ecoregion will continue to be an important habitat.

WWF-Mongolia, one of the most experienced conservation organizations in Mongolia, focuses its efforts on critical conservation issues in two of the world’s outstanding places for biodiversity conservation, the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion – “Land of the Snow Leopard” in Western Mongolia and Amur-Heilong Ecoregion Complex – “The Beauty of Peaceful Black Dragon” in Eastern Mongolia.