A snow leopard in Ladakh, India. Credit: Koustubh Sharma
The estimated 8,000 remaining snow leopards (Panthera uncia) live in some of the world’s most remote and extreme areas – the arid mountainous regions of Asia.
Despite being listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the elusive species’ conservation has been hindered by a lack of knowledge.
New whole genome sequencing has now revealed the population has very low genetic diversity, which does not bode well for the species’ future under a changing climate.
“Snow leopards live in these really untouched areas, unlike other big cat species, which have suffered from human impact already,” says Katie Solari from Stanford University in the US, first author of the study published in PNAS.
“They don’t have many individuals. They don’t have much genetic diversity. Snow leopards are just not well situated to deal with changes that are likely coming their way.”
A snow leopard in Ladakh, India. Credit: Koustubh Sharma
Before now, only 4 snow leopard genomes – 2 captive and 2 wild – had been fully sequenced, making them the least studied genetically of all the big cat species.
The new research, which involved collaborators from 11 countries, brings this number to 41.
The findings reveal the species has very low genetic diversity, which according to the researchers is likely due to a persistently small population throughout their evolutionary history rather than to recent inbreeding.
“Snow leopards live in arid, cold, low-productivity, high-elevation habitats where few species can persist – an environment that has evidently only ever been able to support a limited number of snow leopards,” they write.
“As a result, our data show that they have likely always had an effective population size much lower than other big cats and harbor less genetic diversity than even the cheetah.”
While this hasn’t hindered the species so far, the researchers warn “snow leopards cannot rely on a large population size or standing genetic variation to help them survive any forthcoming anthropogenic challenges, as other big cats have done”.
Snow leopards in the south Gobi, Mongolia. Credit: Snow Leopard Trust and Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation
“Because their habitat is so inhospitable, human population growth didn’t really affect snow leopards very much, but climate change will,” says coauthor Dmitri Petrov, also a biologist at Stanford.
“Humans don’t need to show up in their mountains to build or start agriculture. The climate changes and it affects everyone and everything, even in such remote areas.”
The researchers suggest that climate change-driven habitat change could shrink snow leopards’ range and drive increased competition with other species.
“Shifting grazing practices risk facilitating spillover of novel pathogens from domestic animals into snow leopards and their prey; and accelerating mining, energy, and infrastructure development threaten to fragment and degrade previously remote snow leopard habitats,” they write.
The team is now working to develop a faecal genetic test to allow scientists to learn more about wild snow leopards without needing to trap or sedate them.