Ghosts on Camera: Nepal Counts Its Snow Leopards

The first national survey found almost 400 of the elusive cats.

Snow leopards are so hard to see that they are called the ghosts of the mountains. So Nepal went looking with motion-sensing cameras and genetic samples.

• 397 snow leopards were counted across seven key areas, at the top of earlier estimates of 301 to 400.
• Nepal holds about 2 percent of the world’s snow leopard habitat but around 10 percent of the population, according to WWF.
• Worldwide, the Snow Leopard Trust estimates there are possibly as few as 3,920 and probably no more than 6,390.

Habitat loss, climate change and poaching remain the main threats. The species is listed as Vulnerable. Counting them is the first step to keeping them.

The Cat House Foundation ■ Modeling for a Cause. Photo: Pexels.