Nature has provided the harsh environment and inaccessibility of their native territories to make it difficult for man to seek out and destroy the snow leopard. These factors have helped the cat survive in the wild without our help and interference. Mankind is increasing awareness of the problems confronting the snow leopard. The numbers of leopard exchanges between the U.S. and China have increased. Inter-governmental Nature Conservation Protocol activities have been increased to reaffirm the importance of cooperation in wildlife conservation. Other organizations such as the International Snow Leopard Trust in Seattle, the National Ecology Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado and the Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of International Affairs, are all working together for the benefit of the snow leopard's survival in the wild. Zoos, through their education programs are making the general public aware of the future for all species if we continue at the present rate of habitat loss, particularly in tropical forests. We can only hope that all these efforts to increase our awareness of the complex environmental problems and the need to do something now, rather than later, will benefit the most specialized predators the world has ever seen the cats.

The habitat of this beautiful cat is not fully known. Most of the observation of the snow leopard (P. uniea) in its natural habitat has been accomplished in the Langu Gorge area of Nepal. This is where the leopards have been trapped and radio-collared, thus information gained initially, has been from this area.

The snow leopard is an inhabitant of primarily the mountain regions of the Himalayas through Russia, China and into the Mongolian Republic. This cat is well named; its favorite environment lies at an altitude of between 3,000 and 4,000 meters (10,000-15,000 feet). In the summer months the leopard can be found on the alpine meadows above the timberline at 4,000 meters or higher. They also enter rocky wildernesses, snow fields and glaciers. Occasionally they may reside among evergreen, oaks, in conifer forests or among rhododendron scrub. This is why many zoological enclosures for snow leopards have these plants displayed.

All of the movements to different altitudes by this leopard are based on the seasonal migration of it prey (herbivores). The snow leopard seems to prefer places where mountain streams come together and rocky areas with lots of gorges and ridgelines. These areas happen to be the places where the blue sheep that are favorite prey of the snow leopard, hang out.

Past sociopolitical reasons and inaccessibility of the geographic region have prevented precise estimates of the population density of this species. Early 1990 population numbers ranged from 2,000 to 4,000 in the wild. Research and field biologists now feel the population density in the wild may be as low as 500! More than 500 snow leopards currently reside in zoos. If these new numbers are even close to being correct, survival of this rare and beautiful animal in the wild may go from endangered to extinct.

The future of the snow leopard depends on the creation of large and defensible sanctuaries.  With this development of ecologically sound economies for the remote villages within the snow leopards' range, there is hope for the survival of this cat. We must not let these high mountain dwellers become but a "ghostly" memory.