In a rare sighting, camera traps set up at the Nanda Devi National Park in Uttarakhand clicked images of snow leopards roaming around the snow laden forest. The images were taken from January through March, 2020 and show four of the elusive cats including a pair.
DK Singh, director of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve said that the forest officers recently checked the camera trap images and found the pictures of the wild snow leopards. The cameras were set up in areas where there is the maximum probability of leopard movement.
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“Around 10 days ago, we checked a camera trap that we had set up in Malari area of Nanda Devi National Park. To our surprise, it had recorded four sightings from January to March and also caught a of snow leopard pair, which is very rare. We are very elated with these sightings”, he told HT.
The cameras were at an altitude of 3100 metres (10170 ft). The movements were recorded during dawn, dusk and night when there is highest activity of the snow leopards, looking for a prey like the blue sheep.
“Snow leopards are highly agile, adaptable and solitary big cats and prefer steep rocky broken terrain close to natural vegetation. For travelling and resting, they use cliffs and major ridgelines. That is where we generally set up camera traps”, said Parag Madhukar Dhakate, chief conservator of forests (CCF) western circle Kumaon.
According to the Wildlife Institute of India, the country has around 516 snow leopards with the following state-wise estimated population,
Jammu & Kashmir – 285
Himachal Pradesh – 90
Uttarakhand – 86
Arunachal Pradesh – 42
Sikkim – 13
As per the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the snow leopard is an endangered species facing threats like poaching, habitat destruction and climate change.
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In 2019, a snow leopard had been sighted on the road at Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand,
In January this year it was announced that the state would open India’s first Snow Leopard Conservation Centre near the Gangotri National Park. The centre would facilitate research work and conservation efforts of the species.
India has identified three landscapes ranging around 47,000 sq km of the area- Hemis-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, Gangotri-Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand, and Kanchendzonga-Tawang in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh which would be secured as protected areas for the snow leopard.
