Snow Leopards in China

The Snow Leopard is known as the Ghost Cat for a reason…

Aside from a few rough estimates of habitat and population size, almost nothing is known about the distribution, relative abundance, or population trends of snow leopards in China.

A new Google Challenge Grant from the Google.org Fund of Tides Foundation will enable the Snow Leopard Trust to improve this situation.

The grant is funding analysis to create a better, more detailed map of snow leopard range in China, as well as a series of maps exploring how climate change is likely to shift snow leopard habitat and where increased conflicts between humans and snow leopards could result.

This information helps the Trust as it decides how to focus its efforts to protect snow leopards in China.

In addition, researchers, conservationists, and policy makers worldwide will have access to the maps, as well as an interactive presentation in Google Earth for educational use.