Snow leopard photographed for first time in Uttarakhand

A snow leopard has been photographed for the first time in Pithoragarh’s Darma Valley, according to Bishan Singh Bonal, a retired Indian Forest Service official who is now a member of Uttarakhand’s State Board of Wildlife. The snow leopard, called thar va by locals, was photographed in Darma Byas Chaundas (DBC) near the Indo-China border.

“While we have known about the presence of snow leopards in this region, this is the first time one of them has been photographed by a trekker and wildlife enthusiast, Jayendra Singh Firmaal,” said Bonal, former ADG Wildlife.

The DBC was not included in the snow leopard project launched in 2009 due to lack of evidence about its presence in the region. “It is a matter of immense happiness for us that Firmaal, who was trained in filming and photography under ‘Secure Himalaya’ clicked the snow leopard during his trek in DBC this month,” Bonal said.

The photographic evidence of the elusive leopard could give a boost to wildlife conservation efforts in the region. Bonal recalls when DBC was included in 2016-17 in UNDP and environment ministry’s SECURE Himalaya project, some officials were sceptical about the region having snow leopards. “I was confident even then about the same,” said Bonal, who was additional DG wildlife in the central government at the time.

Experts estimate that the planet has 4,000-7,000 snow leopards. “Uttarakhand has about 121 snow leopards and now the species has been photographed for the first time in Darma Valley too,” said Bonal.