Snow leopards kill livestock in high-altitude pastoral communities, driving retaliatory killing that is one of the primary threats to the species — coexistence programs reduce both livestock losses and leopard mortality.
Snow leopards that kill livestock are shot, trapped, or poisoned by herders protecting their livelihoods. The welfare harm is acute for the individual leopard — and preventable through predator-proof corrals that eliminate the conflict trigger. Herders who lose animals to snow leopards face genuine economic hardship that drives conflict. Coexistence programs that simultaneously protect livestock through corrals and compensate for losses create conditions where snow leopard welfare and herder economic welfare are aligned rather than competing.