Snow leopards face welfare threats from poaching, retaliatory killing following livestock depredation, and climate change altering their high-altitude habitat across Central Asia.
Snow leopard welfare encompasses both the welfare of individual animals facing poaching and retaliatory killing and the systemic welfare challenge of a species whose habitat is shrinking under climate pressure. Retaliatory killing — herders killing snow leopards after livestock predation — reflects real economic vulnerability of mountain communities, meaning welfare-positive conservation requires addressing human livelihoods alongside predator protection. Community insurance programs that compensate herders for livestock losses have demonstrated that the economic trigger for retaliatory killing can be removed, protecting snow leopards without imposing unacceptable costs on local communities. This coexistence model is replicable across the snow leopard range.