Four snow leopards were recently spotted climbing snowy cliffs in northern Pakistan, sparking a wave of excitement among conservationists. These elusive animals are notoriously difficult to spot in the wild, so catching footage of four together is a rare and significant event. The sighting has been hailed as a major success for conservation efforts in Pakistan.
The footage was captured on March 13 by Sakhawat Ali, a gamekeeper and photography enthusiast from the remote village of Hushe. Ali had spent two weeks tracking the leopards’ pawprints through the snow-covered terrain of the Central Karakoram National Park, which is located near K2, the world’s second-highest peak.
Ali explained that the four snow leopards captured on camera were a mother and her three cubs.
“In our village, we are familiar with seeing snow leopards, but no one, not even the elders I spoke to, has ever witnessed four snow leopards together at once,” he shared.
He first spotted the mother snow leopard and began tracking additional pawprints. Later, while observing a nearby cliff through binoculars from the rooftop of his house, he got lucky and saw all four leopards together. He quickly grabbed his camera and filmed the animals from a distance of 200 meters.
Ali mentioned that the people in his village are celebrating the rare sighting of a snow leopard, despite some concerns about the potential danger to their livestock.
Snow leopards are classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on their Red List of Threatened Species. These elusive creatures, often referred to as the “ghosts of the mountains,” are well camouflaged in their natural habitat in the Karakoram Mountain range of Pakistan’s Gilgit Baltistan region.
According to environmental anthropologist Shafqat Hussain, the rugged terrain of northern Pakistan is possibly the “best snow leopard habitat in the world.”
These majestic animals live in high-altitude areas of the Himalayas, and while their range extends across 12 countries, including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Russia, and Mongolia, sightings are incredibly rare.
Dr. Zakir Hussain, the Chief Conservator of Parks and Wildlife for Gilgit-Baltistan, stated that the sighting of the snow leopard is a positive outcome for efforts aimed at raising awareness among local communities about the importance of protecting these animals. He highlighted that 80% of community members are now actively involved in conservation, tracking, and educational initiatives.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for Nature in Pakistan expressed optimism about the sighting but emphasized that snow leopards are still an endangered species facing numerous threats.
In a statement, the WWF stressed the importance of local communities working together to protect and conserve these remarkable big cats, ensuring that future generations can continue to experience their beauty in the wild.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), human activities and the expansion of livestock herds in some areas have led to the degradation of pastureland and wildlife habitats, which affects the snow leopard’s food supply.
Other challenges cited by the UNEP include poaching, the fragmentation of the snow leopard’s habitat due to large-scale infrastructure projects, and climate change, which is expected to worsen these existing threats.
In 2023, Pakistan was ranked as the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the World Bank’s Global Climate Risk Index.
