Meet the Fearless Women Tracking India's Elusive Snow Leopards

In one of the coldest and most remote parts of India, a group of women are making a big difference for wildlife. These women live in Kibber village, which is in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh. This area is high up in the Himalayas, where the weather is very cold and the mountains are covered in snow. The women are helping to protect snow leopards, which are rare and shy big cats. People call them the 'ghosts of the mountains' because they are so hard to see. India has one of the largest populations of snow leopards in the world, with a recent survey in 2023 finding more than 700 of these animals.

For many years, people in Kibber and nearby villages thought snow leopards were a problem because they sometimes attacked their livestock. But now, things are changing. People are starting to understand that snow leopards are important for the mountain ecosystem. They help keep the balance of nature by being top predators. Nearly a dozen local women are now working with the Himachal Pradesh forest department and conservation groups to track and protect the snow leopards. They call their group 'Shenmo,' which means snow leopard in their local language. The women have been trained to set up and check camera traps. These cameras have special IDs and memory cards, and they take pictures when a snow leopard walks by.

Lobzang Yangchen is one of the leaders of the group. She helped collect data for a survey in 2024, which found that there are now 83 snow leopards in Himachal Pradesh, up from 51 in 2021. The survey used camera traps spread over a huge area, and the women helped identify individual leopards by the unique patterns on their fur. The work is not easy. The women have to wake up early, finish their chores, and then travel by vehicle and on foot to reach the camera sites, which are often at very high altitudes. The air is thin, and it is very cold. They look for signs like paw prints, scratches, and scent marks to know where to put the cameras. After setting up the cameras, they come back later to collect the memory cards and check the photos on computers. Many of the women had never used a computer before, but they learned how to use the keyboard and mouse.

At first, the women joined the project because they were curious and wanted to earn some money during the long, quiet winters. They earn between 500 and 700 rupees a day. But now, their work has changed how the community sees snow leopards. People used to think of them as enemies, but now they understand their importance. The women also help villagers get insurance for their livestock and teach them how to build safe enclosures to protect their animals at night. The Spiti Valley has recently been included in a special Unesco network to protect fragile mountain areas. As climate change affects the region, experts say that community involvement is key to saving species like the snow leopard. The women feel proud of their work and say it helps them feel closer to their home and the mountains. They know that protecting snow leopards is important for everyone in the valley.