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1.1 BACKGROUND

In Pakistan, snow leopard is found throughout the mountain ranges of the north, in Chitral, Dir, Swat and Kohistan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in the northern part of Neelum Valley, District of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Malik, 1997). The total snow leopard habitat available in Pakistan is about 80,000 km2 of which about 40,000 km2 is considered to be its prime habitat (Fox, 1989). It occurs in the Hindu Kush range in the Chitral District (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and in the Karakorum Range of the Gilgit-Baltistan in the Gilgit, Ghizer, Hunza-Nagar, Skardu and Ghanche districts. A good population of snow leopard is also reported from Shimshal area in Hunza-Nagar, but no density estimate is available (Wegge, 1988).

Reliable information on snow leopard population in Pakistan is lacking. There are certain limitations in available population estimates as most of these estimates are based on anecdotal information or interviews and expert judgments. Based on surveys undertaken in the early 1970s, Schaller (1976) estimated the total population of snow leopards in Pakistan to be around 150 to 200 animals. Malik (1997) reported that the number could be around 400 animals. Later, based on sign surveys carried out in Skardu and Ghanche Districts of the Gilgit-Baltistan,(Hussain, 2003) estimated of 90-120 in Baltistan and 300-420 animals throughout Pakistan.