Snow Leopards in Nepal

Abstract

Snow leopards are shy and nocturnal, inhabiting high and difficult mountain country. Nevertheless the author, who spent two months in the winter of 1976–77 in the Langu Valley in the Nepalese Himalaya, is convinced that numbers are declining due to over-hunting, a decline in their natural prey, and the increased use of alpine pastures by man and his livestock. Probably none of Nepal's mountain parks harbour snow leopards, and a large sanctuary for them is urgently needed.