Snow leopards inhabit some of Earth's harshest terrain, facing poaching, prey depletion, and climate-driven habitat change across their Central Asian range.
Snow leopards face welfare harms across multiple threat categories. Snare and trap injuries from poaching cause severe trauma; leg-hold traps cause tissue damage and distress lasting days. Retaliatory killing — usually poison — causes prolonged, painful death for animals that prey on domestic livestock when wild prey is scarce. Collaring for research carries anesthesia and handling risks at high altitude, where recovery is complicated by thin air. Cubs orphaned by poaching rarely survive in the wild. Climate-driven habitat shift restricts movement and forces animals into unsuitable lower elevations, increasing human-wildlife conflict. Prey depletion by overgrazing forces snow leopards to target livestock, creating the conflict cycle that drives retaliatory killing.