11 Ways to Help Snow Leopards

The Snow Leopard is an elusive big cat. They aren’t easy to spot, as they blend in well with their surroundings.  Locals call them the “mountain ghosts”.  (Find out how India's first snow leopard census was carried out.)

Snow leopards live in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tjiskistan, Russia and Uzbekistan so they have quite a range covering roughly 2 million square kilometres, half of which are in China.

Snow Leopard conservation charities will be working closely with local communities to help local people co-exist with these magnificent big cats, and also to help them with ways to improve their living standards.  This will help reduce the need for poaching and also reduce reliance on livestock.

Big news from the Snow Leopard Trust!

There’s great news from Mongolia!  The Snow Leopard Trust has been using camera traps to survey snow leopard numbers in Tost, Mongolia, and the mountains surrounding it since 2008.  And they rotate the cameras among the mountainous study areas every two to three months during the year.  Back in 2023, they installed 180 camera traps over 7,559km2 in the Tost Nature Reserve, Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Sevrei, and Noyon.   The team and partners are busy analysing over 8,400 images of snow leopards to identify different individuals and the early findings are…… at least 6 cubs were born in Tost Nature Reserve in 2023.   The community rangers helped set them up, so it shows how important it is, and also how important your support is.  It really matters to these beautiful big cats.  Find out more here

How about a Research Camera Adoption
to support snow leopard conservation?
£398.00
Image © Snow Leopard Trust

11 ways to help snow leopards.

1.  Build a connection with snow leopards.  Find out more about these magnificent big cats – their behaviour, biology, geography and so on.  Watch footage of them (the Snow Leopard Trust has some amazing photos) to develop a bond with them, even if it is from the comfort of home.  Get closer to them - it will increase your desire to help them

2.  Understand the threats facing snow leopards and spread the word – poaching, mining, climate change.  Its main prey species such as sheep and goats - are also threatened by illegal and unsustainable hunting.  In some areas, there are retribution killings when snow leopards kill livestock.  Mining is destroying the eco-systems snow leopards depend on.  And climate change will alter the habitat of the snow leopard and other species, affecting the availability of water and vegetation. Tell people that snow leopards are under threat.  It’s estimated that there are no more than 6,390 snow leopards living in the wild – and there may be as few as 3,920. 

3.  The 23^rd October is International Snow Leopard Day (make a note in your calendar) but you can make every day a snow leopard day by checking for and sharing news, photos and videos you find to raise awareness of this stunning big cat.

4. Find out what snow leopard charities are doing to overcome the challenges facing snow leopards.  Find out where they work, what they do, what their mission is, ways in which you can help, whether they have a newslettler you can sign up to.  Follow them on social media.  Some may have volunteer opportunities.  For instance, you could look at

• Snow Leopard Trust 
• Snow Leopard Conservancy,
• WCS. 
• Bhutan Foundation:
• Panthera 

The Snow Leopard Network is a worldwide organization which facilitates the exchange of information and insights between individuals around the world with the aim of snow leopard conservation.  Take a look at their Annual Report for 2023 which celebrates 20 years of the Snow Leopard Network.

5.  Adopt a snow leopard to support snow leopard charities!   The Snow Leopard Trust has e-adoptions so wherever you are in the world, you can adopt a snow leopard!  This makes for a great gift for big cat lovers – your gift really is making a difference.  You can even adopt Anu, a wild snow leopard!  Find out more about the adoptions here

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) has a snow leopard appeal,
SOS(L) - Save our Snow Leopards. 
DSWF is a UK registered charity, No. 1106893

6.   Watch for appeals the snow leopard charities make.  They are often involved in Giving Tuesday or fundraisers around Christmas, so you could ask people to donate for you on your behalf instead of giving you an actual present.  (This makes life much easier for them, too!)

7.   You could do a Research Camera Adoption with the Snow Leopard Trust and directly support snow leopard conservation.   This would be quite an amazing gift for a snow leopard lover, as it includes a Personalized Research Camera adoption certificate, thousands of exclusive photographs from a real research camera trap, immediately available to download and a full camera roll from Mongolia, India and Kyrgyzstan!  Find out more here

You can also donate to the DSWF's SOS(L) Appeal (that's the Save our Snow Leopards appeal);  £150 supplies a camera trap, so that vital monitoring of snow leopards and other wildlife in their ecosystem can be undertaken.  They are also a deterrent to paochers.  £300 funds more specialist cameras and research equipment, which means that there can be detailed identification of snow leopard individuals and field patrols.  And you can adopt a snow leopard from the DSWF from £3 a month. 

Dagina is probably one of the most studied snow leopards in the world,
and this videos tells the story of her life.
But she is now in her twilight years and conservation charities 
such as the DSWF and the Snow Leopard Trust want to secure a future for snow leopards.

Date for your diary:  The 23rd October is International Snow Leopard Day - Make every day a Snow Leopard Day!


8.  Donate or become a monthly donor to the Snow Leopard Trust and be a part of Team Snow Leopard, or the Snow Leopard Conservancy

9. Buy products from snow leopard conservation charities’ online shops.   Spread the snow leopard wonder!  You could also support Snow Leopard Enterprises.  The idea is that herder women living in snow leopard habitat produce unique handicrafts, made with the natural resources they have.   Snow Leopard Enterprises buys them and sells them online to snow leopard supporters worldwide!  Families taking part can boost their income by up to 40% - and they pledge to keep snow leopards in their area safe.   The Snow Leopard Trust says you could also sell some of its products at arts and crafts fairs to help raise funds and awareness. 

10.  See if you can fundraise for a snow leopard charity to help support their work.  You could set up an online fundraiser or do a personal challenge for instance.  

11.  Get children involved too;  they can learn about snow leopards with lots of snow leopard activities!