Saadet Gokce
16 January 2025•Update: 16 January 2025
ISTANBUL
Chinese researchers conducted the world's largest survey and discovered an estimated population size of 1,002 snow leopards on the Tibetan Plateau.
The survey, conducted between 2015 and 2021, covered approximately 360,000 square kilometers (138,997 square miles) of the plateau in northwest China, known locally as the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
The assessment survey was conducted by organizations, including Peking University, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), and the Shan Shui Conservation Center (SSCC), and an article about their findings was published in the international journal of Biodiversity and Conservation on Jan. 11, Xinhua News reported on Wednesday.
This is the first time China has completed a major snow leopard population assessment, and it is the largest-scale rare species population survey ever published, according to Xiao Lingyun, an assistant professor at XJTLU and co-author of the article.
“The king of the mountains” is listed as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The study was based on existing infrared camera survey data from 12 monitoring sites collected over six years, during which four organizations, including the SSCC, recorded nearly 10,000 snow leopard activity records.
The findings show that over 110,000 square kilometers of the surveyed area are potentially suitable habitats for snow leopards.
China, which hosts nearly 60% of the world’s snow leopard habitats, has placed the species under first-class national protection, according to the media outlet.
The evasive species make it hard to account for the population accurately. However, the Sanjiangyuan area, which is one of the most densely populated areas for snow leopards in the world, has 7,446 to 7,996 snow leopards, according to earlier estimates.
Separately, in neighboring Pakistan, the government has allowed people in the country's most populated Punjab province to raise five species of big cats—lions, cheetahs, tigers, pumas, and jaguars, according to local daily Dawn.
However, a strict ban was put into place to prevent exhibiting these animals on social media platforms.
