Abstract
To optimize the conservation strategies of snow leopard, it is necessary to know its distribution within an area and relative abundance in different habitats (Sheng et al. Biodivers Conserv 19:3195-3206, 2010).
Its secretive lifestyle makes this quite difficult. Estimation methods of snow leopard abundance include search for signs of their presence, capture-recapture, predator-prey biomass ratios, photographic-capture rate and genetic analyses (McCarthy et al. in J Wildl Manage 72:1826-1833, 2008).
There was no photograph of a snow leopard taken in the wild until 1980 (Schaller in Stones of silence: journeys in the Himalaya. Viking Press, New York, 1980).
A huge step forward came with the availability of camera traps, which have replaced live-capture (direct capture of an animal), which is almost impossible because of the very low rate of a face-to-face encounter: about 3/1000 trap-nights (McCarthy et al. in J Wildl Manage 72:1826-1833, 2008). Thus, for those who wish to obtain data on snow leopard population dynamics, or at least on its distribution in an area, it is important to know, which method is the most appropriate in his/her case.
To help people in this decision, we give an account of the methods used for estimating snow leopard abundance. T