Geographic and Population Changes  

Snow leopards live in alpine areas in the summer and subalpine areas in the winter in order to hunt their prey. These areas are high up in mountains ranges, between 3,000 and 5,000 meters in elevation. Snow leopards live in 12 countries, which are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Because these animals are so hard to track it is difficult to document how many Snow Leopards are in each country, but it is known that China has the largest number of snow leopards. The Tibetan plateau and far west holds over 1 million km2 of snow leopard habitat. This is home to 60% of snow leopards. Tragically, this is also the area that is being impacted the most by climate change. Berkeley researchers stated that “the region is warming more than twice as fast as the Northern Hemisphere on average.” In the last 20 years its temperature has risen by 3 degrees. Climate change is very real, and it is killing countless animals by drastically altering their habitats. By investigating which areas have remained stable in changing climates in the past 100,000 years scientists were able to conclude that the mountain ranges of Altai, Qilian and Tian Shan-Pamir-Hindu Kush-Karakoram will remain viable habitats. This is about 35% of the snow leopards home. Although a few areas will remain usable to snow leopards, most will not. One study estimated that Nepal could lose 82% of their snow leopards, while Bhutan could 85%. Snow leopards like rocky, cold mountain tops that are mostly barren. Their numbers have already dropped from around 9,000 in 2000 to between 4,000 and 6,000 today. Snow leopards need these habitats so they can camouflage themselves and hunt. Climate change is resulting in fragmentation, rising tree lines, new vegetation being introduced at higher elevations. All of these consequences are contributing to making their territories more and more inhabitable. According to the World Wildlife Fund in the last 16 years the Snow Leopard population has dropped by 20%. Because snow leopards are apex predators they are vital to balancing the ecosystem. If they go extinct their prey would start overpopulation and there would not be enough food sources. This overgrazing would result in other populations dying out as well. It is vital for the ecosystem that this animal stays alive.