Management of captive snow leopards in the EAZA region

The snow leopard has been kept since 1851 in European zoos. Despite the recording of all captive individuals in the international studbook by Leif Blomqvist since 1976, better cooperation in breeding and data sharing was achieved after a snow leopard conference at Helsinki Zoo in 1978 and the establishment of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP) in 1985. The population development and associated genetic losses and characteristics of the snow leopard EEP population are explored. Notwithstanding its healthy status with 187 individuals and a gene diversity (GD) of 94.9 %, based on 53 founders, the snow leopard EEP would profit from incorporation into a Global Species Management Plan (GSMP) for the long-term future. The captive snow leopards help their counterparts in the wild by providing precise life history information and safe anesthesia protocols as well as functioning as ambassadors for funding in situ conservation and field studies.