♦ India has recorded an estimated 718 snow leopards across the Indian Himalayas, including 477 in Ladakh, according to the country’s first Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI), Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh said on 23 October 2026. 

♦ Meanwhile, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav announced that the government had extended privileges and immunities to the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA), its representatives and officials under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947.

♦ The International Big Cat Alliance aims to strengthen global cooperation in conserving big cat species through coordinated conservation initiatives, scientific knowledge sharing and capacity-building programmes.