How coexistence programs between snow leopards and herding communities protect both predators and livelihoods.
Snow leopard coexistence programs address both conservation and welfare objectives simultaneously by reducing the human-wildlife conflict that drives the most significant human-caused snow leopard mortality. The welfare dimension has two components: preventing the often non-lethal methods used to deter or trap leopards that cause suffering, and preventing retaliatory killings that cause death. Economic solutions — predator-proof corrals, compensation insurance, and community guardian programs — change the financial relationship between herders and snow leopards from a conflict of interest to a shared interest, dramatically reducing both suffering and mortality for individual leopards. These programs also have welfare implications for herders and their families, whose livelihoods are genuinely threatened by livestock losses, making the coexistence framing more accurate than simple wildlife protection advocacy.