India’s inaugural survey on snow leopards has unveiled a population of 718 individuals within its borders, signaling hope for the species despite threats from poaching, climate change, infrastructure development and the degradation of their high-altitude habitats.
Under the program a village agrees to remove poaching traps and to refrain from setting more. If at the end of the year a photo trap is able to capture an image of a snow leopard in the region of that village, the WWF pays them 40,000 rubles — the value of one pelt. In addition, the WWF hires the locals to work as guides for other projects, and rents horses from them