Ladakh launches India's first high-altitude snow leopard safari

08-10-2026 · English

Topics: Environment · 8 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)

News

During Wildlife Week, Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena flagged off six specially designed open vehicles for India's first high-altitude snow leopard safari at Leh on 7 Oct 2026. It is run by the SHAN Society with Ladakh's Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment. First areas: Rumbak, Shang and Uley.

Key facts

Background

• Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI), released in 2024: 718 in India – Ladakh 477, Uttarakhand 124, Himachal 51, Arunachal 36, Sikkim 21, J&K 9.
• Protection: IUCN 'Vulnerable'; Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. State animal of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. 'Project Snow Leopard' began in 2009.
• Geography: Hemis National Park is India's largest national park and called the 'snow leopard capital'. Ladakh is a cold desert in the Trans-Himalaya.
• Polity: under the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, Ladakh became a Union Territory without a legislature on 31 Oct 2019, run by a Lieutenant Governor.
• Wildlife Week: 2–8 October in India, an initiative of the Indian Board for Wildlife (1952); observed as a week since 1955 (2024 was the 70th Wildlife Week).

Tamil Nadu link: Tamil Nadu's State animal is the Nilgiri tahr – 'Project Nilgiri Tahr' began in 2023. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (1986) is India's first; the State has the Mudumalai, Anamalai, Kalakad–Mundanthurai, Sathyamangalam and Srivilliputhur–Megamalai tiger reserves.

Source: ThePrint (PTI), GKToday, 7 Oct 2026

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