Snow leopards across Central Asia face retaliatory killing by herders following livestock depredation, with welfare implications for individual animals and small, fragmented populations.
Snow leopards killed retaliatorily are often poisoned — a method that causes prolonged, painful death — or trapped in snares that cause injury before killing. Cubs whose mothers are killed face starvation in high-altitude terrain where rescue is difficult. Injured leopards may survive attacks but lose hunting ability, leading to increased livestock targeting and further conflict. Rehabilitated snow leopards rarely achieve successful wild release.