Vulnerable · ▼ decreasing
Snow leopard
Panthera uncia
estimated wild adults across 12 countries · as of 2024
confidence: low
What the number means
Less than a quarter of snow leopard range has ever been systematically surveyed. Roughly 60% of range is in China. Any figure carries an enormous error bar. Downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2017 — a change that reflected better information rather than a recovering population, and one many field scientists objected to.
Range
Twelve range countries across High Asia. Roughly 60% of range is in China. Less than 25% of range has been systematically surveyed.
The rosette
huge, faint, smoke-grey rosettes on a pale coat. Blurred, like a photocopy of a leopard. The palest rosette of the four.
Sources for this figure
- IUCN Red List — Panthera uncia · retrieved 2026-08-19
- Snow Leopard Trust · retrieved 2026-08-19
- PAWS — Population Assessment of the World's Snow Leopards · retrieved 2026-08-19
Rosette names its sources rather than linking to them. A name does not go stale, and we claim no endorsement from anyone listed here. Search the name to reach them.
Rare facts
The things people don't know.
Rare fact
The snow leopard cannot roar. Its hyoid structure and vocal fold anatomy differ from the other three cats — it chuffs, mews, growls and yowls, but it has no roar.
Source Snow Leopard Trust
Rare fact
It is the only Panthera that habitually wraps its metre-long tail around itself for warmth, and uses the tail as a counterweight on cliffs.
Source Snow Leopard Trust
Rare fact
The 2017 downlisting from Endangered to Vulnerable was controversial. It reflected better information, not a recovering population.
Source IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
The count, as animals
A scale, not a tally.
Where you can see one
Real places, real months, honest odds.
| Place | Season | Odds | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hemis National Park, Rumbak Valley Ladakh, India | Late Jan–Mar | Odds: moderate–high | The classic. Spotters scan ridgelines with scopes from valley floors; you stay in village homestays at ~4,000 m. Winter drives blue sheep — and their predators — down to viewable altitude. Physically hard, extremely cold, deeply rewarding. |
| Ulley Valley Ladakh, India | Feb–Mar | Odds: moderate | Quieter and less trafficked than Rumbak, with excellent local spotters. Often better value. |
| Kibber, Spiti Valley Himachal Pradesh, India | Jan–Mar | Odds: moderate | Higher, harder, colder, fewer people. Community-run homestays put money directly into households that share the mountain with the cat. |
| Tost Mountains, South Gobi Ömnögovi, Mongolia | Sep–Nov | Odds: low–moderate | Long-running research site. You are more likely to be part of the science than to get the photograph — which for some travellers is the better trip. |
| Qilianshan & Sanjiangyuan Qinghai, China | Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct | Odds: moderate | China holds roughly 60% of all snow leopard habitat. Community-guided trips out of Yushu are emerging and improving quickly. |
Keep going
Ask anything about the Snow leopard.
Including the obscure questions. Every answer is quoted from a sourced passage, and the assistant will tell you plainly when it does not have one.