Context: Snow Leopards spotted in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kishtwar High Altitude National Park.
- The presence of the elusive snow leopards in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar High Altitude National Park has been confirmed by a research
team of Department of Wildlife Protection through camera trap.
- Attributed as one of the seven snow leopard reserves under a project launched by Central Government, the Kishtwar High Altitude National Park lies in Doda District, about 40km north-east of Kishtwar Town.
- The park was established to conserve the snow leopard species, its prey populations and its fragile mountain habitat.
- Spread over an area of 400 sq km the park was declared a national park on 4 February 1981.
- With Rinnay River in the north, KibarNala catchment in the south, the Great Himalayas in the east and Marwa River in the west, the area lies in the Central Crystalline belt of the Great Himalayas. The altitude of the park ranges from 1700m to 4800m.
Snow leopards in India
- Snow leopards are distributed across the 100,146 sq. km of snowy forests in five Himalayan states – Jammu & Kashmir,
- Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh.
- Hemis National Park, Gangotri National Park, KhangchendzongaNational park and
- Great Himalayan National Park are some protected areas where snow leopards are known to be found.
- It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated to number fewer than,
- 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline about 10% by 2040.
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