Research overview: snow leopard livestock depredation across the high Himalaya

This overview synthesises studies of snow leopard predation on livestock across the mountains of Central and South Asia, from Ladakh and Spiti to the Pamirs and Mongolia. It reviews patterns of loss, the heightened impact of multiple-kill surplus-killing events when snow leopards enter poorly built corrals, the economic severity of losses for subsistence herders, and the resulting retaliatory killing. The literature connects depredation to wild-prey density, livestock-guarding practices, and pasture use. It evaluates mitigation including predator-proofing corrals, insurance, and incentive schemes. The survey frames snow leopard conflict as a defining threat to the species, driven by intimate overlap between herders and cats in resource-scarce high-altitude rangelands.