Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are fascinating and mysterious animals that dominate the peaks of the Himalayas, living in extreme conditions at altitudes of between 1,500 and 6,000 metres. Climate change is threatening the survival of many species, and in particular that of these large felines, which depend on snowy mountain habitats.

More than a third of the snow leopard's habitat could become uninhabitable due to rising temperatures. The alarm has been raised by the WWF, which has published the report "Fragile connections – Snow leopards, people, water and the global climate change".

According to the environmental organisation, climate warming risks pushing the treeline to higher altitudes and allowing humans to farm and graze livestock ever further up the mountains, forcing snow leopards to retreat into increasingly restricted and fragmented ranges and heightening the potential for conflict with human beings.

The current conservation status of the "ghost of the mountains" is already dire: classified as "endangered" on the Red List of the IUCN, the snow leopard population has declined by 20 per cent over the past 16 years. The main threats are conflict with mountain communities, who see leopards as a threat to their livestock and human lives, poaching, habitat loss and a reduction in prey numbers.

Currently, only around four thousand snow leopards are believed to survive in the wild, distributed across small populations. Climate change, adding to pre-existing threats, could deliver the final blow to the species, reducing many populations to unsustainable numbers.

Climate warming would not only have negative impacts on wildlife: the snow leopard's high-altitude habitat extends across many of Asia's major river basins, spanning twelve countries. The WWF report, published ahead of the crucial climate conference in Paris, highlights how more than 330 million people live within 10 kilometres of rivers that originate in the regions of Central Asia above 3,000 metres, and depend on them for their water supply.

Rising temperatures could drastically alter the flow of water descending from the mountains and threaten the survival of people across the entire continent. "Urgent action is needed to curb climate change and prevent further degradation of snow leopard habitat, otherwise this extraordinary feline could disappear, along with the water reserves that are vital for hundreds of millions of people," said Rishi Kumar Sharma, head of WWF's Snow Leopard Programme.

In an effort to protect snow leopards, WWF is coordinating a global species conservation strategy. The first step involves gaining greater knowledge of these elusive felines through camera traps and satellite monitoring of individual animals fitted with radio collars, in order to gather data on the biology, habits and, above all, the true range of the snow leopard.