They’re known as the “ghost of the mountains,” so it makes sense that snow leopards can be extremely difficult to spot. Yet, these majestic, thick-furred cats, living in the high mountains of Asia, are also disappearing from much of their range due to declines in prey, retaliatory killing for livestock predation, the illegal wildlife trade, and changes in their habitat from climate change, mining and large-scale infrastructure. In some places, though, snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are recovering and thriving. Today, on International Snow Leopard Day, we highlight some recent Mongabay stories about these big cats in India and Nepal. Snow leopards in India Two-thirds of India’s snow leopards live in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh landscape of high-altitude plateaus, rugged mountain ranges and cold deserts, a study published in May showed. Researchers followed the cats’ tracks and droppings and deployed camera traps to get an estimate of about 477 snow leopards living across the region. However, most snow leopard sightings came from outside protected areas. This raises concerns about conflict, since snow leopards sometimes target domestic livestock, especially during winter when their wild prey is scarce. But thanks to conservation initiatives and local communities’ sustainable cultural pastoral practices, cats and humans here coexist largely in peace, contributor Sneha Mahale reported for Mongabay India. “Snow leopards are not poached here,” said study co-author Yadvendradev Jhala, a senior wildlife scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India. “The combination of the Buddhist culture and economic incentives to preserve the species has allowed their population to…This article was originally published on Mongabay