Snow leopards inhabit the high mountain ranges of Central Asia and face threats from livestock predation conflict, poaching, and climate change. Their welfare in wild and captive contexts both matter.
Wild snow leopards face welfare harms from snare trapping (set for prey species like musk deer that snow leopards also encounter), retaliatory killing by herders following livestock losses, and the chronic stress of human encroachment into increasingly restricted habitat. Human-wildlife conflict resolution programmes — including predator-proof corrals and livestock insurance schemes — reduce both killing of snow leopards and the economic loss to herders, improving welfare on both sides. Captive snow leopards in accredited zoos receive high-quality care but are confined in enclosures that represent a tiny fraction of their natural home range, with enrichment programmes that only partially substitute for natural ranging.