Snow Leopard Conservation
LADAKH: Snow Leopard Capital of the World
Three Decades of Snow Leopard Conservation. By Jigmet Takpa.
Where survival itself is a triumph — and the Ghost of the Himalayas still roams free.
How Ladakh became the snow leopard's stronghold
Ladakh holds an estimated 477 snow leopards, around two-thirds of India's population, and Hemis National Park has recorded the highest snow leopard density documented anywhere.
This book tells how that came to be. Written by the officer who led Ladakh's wildlife protection for three decades, it follows the long change from conflict to coexistence: the protected areas and their management, the science that counted the cats, and the villages that chose to live alongside them.
Figures: Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India 2019–2023, as cited in the book.
- The snow leopard and its mountains: ecology, prey and landscape
- Hemis National Park: from a protected area on paper to a global stronghold
- Counting the cats: the surveys behind Ladakh's numbers
- People and predators: homestays, predator-proof corrals and the end of retaliatory killing
- Beyond the snow leopard: wolves, Pallas's cat, cranes and the wider Trans-Himalaya
- Climate, energy and the future of Ladakh's wild places
"For 25 years, Jigmet Takpa walked Ladakh's highest passes and most remote valleys to answer one question: could this harsh, unforgiving landscape become the last great refuge of the snow leopard? The answer changed everything. This is the story of that journey — of science and wilderness, of people and mountains, and of how Ladakh became the Snow Leopard Capital of the World."
From the back cover
Jigmet Takpa
Jigmet Takpa is the former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden of Ladakh, and the first Indian Forest Service officer from the region. He wrote the Hemis National Park Management Plan and the Field Guide to Mammals of Ladakh, and serves as an Expert Member of the National Board for Wildlife.
Read his storyThe book is published in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, and the International Big Cat Alliance, and launches at the IBCA summit in Delhi in 2027.
Formats, price and where to buy will be announced before publication.
The e-book when you book. A signed copy when you leave.
As soon as you book, you can download the e-book from your Guest Area and read it before you travel. At the end of your expedition, you take home a signed copy as a souvenir, with a gift hamper made by the village communities we work with. Guests in our Founding Season 2027–28 receive a numbered first edition. On each expedition, the author hosts an Author's Evening by the fire.
The author's royalties support conservation and education in Ladakh.
Odzer Snow Leopard Expeditions is an independent company. The book's publishing partners do not endorse or operate its expeditions.
Hear first when it is published
Leave your email and we will tell you when the book is available, and how to order a copy.