Ladkah a top habitat for snow leopards

Home to 477 snow leopards, Ladakh has one of the world's highest densities of the big cat, representing nearly 70 per cent of India's species population, a study by the union territory's Department of Wildlife Protection has estimated.

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NEW DELHI:

Assessing numbers and distribution across an area of 59,000 square kilometres, researchers found that snow leopards occupied over 47,500 square kilometres. Findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

Belonging to the genus 'Panthera' that also includes lions and tigers, a snow leopard's habitat extends across mountainous regions of countries in Asia, such as India, China, Nepal and Pakistan.