Research overview: snow leopard wild prey and rangeland competition

Snow leopards depend primarily on wild mountain ungulates such as blue sheep, ibex, argali, and marmots, and the health of these prey populations governs snow leopard numbers. This overview surveys research on prey ecology and the competition between wild herbivores and growing domestic livestock for limited high-altitude pasture. Studies document how overgrazing by livestock can depress wild prey, indirectly harming snow leopards, and how poaching of prey species compounds the problem. Researchers link prey density to snow leopard density much as in tiger systems, underscoring that protecting wild ungulates is fundamental to predator conservation. The overview also considers how rangeland management and grazing policy affect the prey base. It matters because securing snow leopards requires not only protecting the cats but sustaining the wild herbivore communities and high-mountain grasslands on which the entire system depends.