Saving snow leopards is her job

A well-deserved win: the Snow Leopard Award 2025 goes to Tshiring Lhamu Lama

Every year, NABU honours individuals or organisations that are passionately committed to protecting snow leopards. This year's winner has now been announced: the Snow Leopard Award 2025 goes to the extraordinary conservationist Tshiring Lhamu Lama from Nepal. Thanks to her, more snow leopards are now surviving in Nepal's Dolpo mountain region.

Tshiring Lhamu Lama: this is her story

Dolpo is a remote, high-altitude mountain region in north-western Nepal. It lies in the heart of the Himalayas. This is where Tshiring Lhamu Lama was born and raised. She loves this mysterious landscape, which is also home to the rare and endangered snow leopard. She is the first woman in her community to have earned a master's degree in natural resource management. Today, Tshiring Lhamu Lama is a conservationist tracking snow leopards – for their own protection. 

The problem is that snow leopards are killed in Dolpo because they invade shepherds' livestock enclosures and thus threaten their livelihoods. In the past eight years, Tshiring Lhamu Lama alone has documented eleven such killings. In reality, many villagers say, there were probably many more. Yet there are only about 90 snow leopards left in Dolpo.

Protecting snow leopards means empowering people

When Lama witnessed two brutal snow leopard killings while writing her master's thesis, she was deeply moved. The aspiring conservationist realized that the only way to protect this iconic species was to improve the coexistence between humans and big cats in Dolpo.

Lama founded Snow Leopard Journey, a community-based trekking initiative, and Snow Leopard Sisters, a non-profit organisation. Through these organisations, she has already trained 15 young conservationists, reached 100 herders and reduced livestock losses in two villages by 90 per cent. A very encouraging result! For Tshiring Lhamu Lama, one thing is clear: only when livestock losses decline will the rare big cats in Dolpo have a future.

Tshiring Lhamu Lama says: 'My motivation comes from the people of Dolpo, who live closest to snow leopards. Their wisdom and stories guide me every day. This award is not only for me, but for all members of the community, especially women and young people, who make snow leopard conservation possible.'

These measures protect snow leopards in Dolpo

Tshiring Lhamu Lama and her team are developing community-led, innovative and sustainable solutions for a peaceful coexistence. Their action plan includes:

• constructing eleven predator-proof corrals with a practical and durable design
• training and empowering 80 young people from the area as conservationists
• deploying 500 solar-powered predator deterrents to protect livestock at night

With the NABU Snow Leopard Award 2025, Tshiring Lhamu Lama wants to train more leaders in nature conservation, protect snow leopards and strengthen communities in Dolpo. She wants to make sure that their voices and the call of the snow leopards will echo across the Himalayas for generations to come.

The following film clips show the current award winner in action in her home region of Dolpo: they are taken from the documentary Snow Leopard Sisters. Congratulations, Tshiring Lhamu Lama! Your extraordinary commitment has inspired us.

The previous award winners at a glance

Many renowned conservationists and organisations have received the Snow Leopard Award since 2018. We present all the previous winners below.

Tajikistan: Davlatkhon Mulloyorov

NABU honours Mulloyorov's extraordinary commitment to the protection of the snow leopard

In 2024, the award went to Davlatkhon Mulloyorov from Tajikistan. Davlatkhon Mulloyorov comes from the village Zighar on the Tajik-Afghan border and has dedicated himself to protecting the endangered snow leopard since the late 1990s. He works in the ‘M-Sayod’ nature reserve, which today provides a habitat for snow leopards and their prey in this region. As habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to snow leopards, such safe hideaways are of vast importance! Mulloyorov's commitment has made the region a role model for successful species conservation and has helped the snow leopard population to make a significant recovery.

India: High Asia Habitat Fund

Conflicts between humans and wild animals are on the decline

Only around 300 snow leopards still live in India. Thanks to the High Asia Habitat Fund, human-wildlife conflicts, one of the gravest threats to the big cat, have decreased in Ladakh, India. The conservation organisation High Asia Habitat Fund (HAHF), which was only founded in 2020, has already done outstanding work to protect the endangered snow leopard in a very short space of time.

This is why the 2022 NABU Snow Leopard Award went to the conservation organisation's team.

Northern Pakistan: Nature conservation organisation BWCDO

Snow leopard population stable - thanks to Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization

For over two decades, the Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization has been working to ensure that people, snow leopards and their prey can live peacefully side by side in the high mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan. 

Thanks to the Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization, human-animal conflicts in Baltistan have decreased: Over 90 snow leopards inhabit the region. The NABU Snow Leopard Award 2021 went to the team members of BWCDO. Well deserved! 

Kyrgyzstan: Erines Otorbaev

Departing Kyrgyz ambassador receives snow leopard prize

In the 1980s, there were still around 1,400 snow leopards living in Kyrgyzstan, today there are only around 300. The fact that there are not even fewer animals is thanks to the diplomatic skills of Erines Otorbaev: The 2020 Snow Leopard Prize winner is a pioneer of international species conservation. 

Erines Otorbaev has been advocating for snow leopard conservation across national borders since 1984. The key in the fight against poaching and other threats is the multinational cooperation of all twelve countries in the animals' range.

Tajikistan: Burgut

Exemplary commitment of the Tajik association

The community-based Tajik wildlife conservation association Burgut was honoured with the 2019 Snow Leopard Award. In his laudatory speech, NABU Director of International Department Thomas Tennhardt praised the outstanding commitment of the wildlife conservation association and the local communities to protecting nature.  

Burgut shows how communities can successfully combine nature conservation and sustainable development in their region. The organisation leases land, designates it a protected wildlife area and prevents grazing and poaching through patrols and educational work. 

Kyrgyzstan: Rosa Otunbayeva

Snow leopard prize for former Kyrgyz president

The first snow leopard prize was awarded to the former Kyrgyz President Rosa Otunbayeva.

Thanks to Otunbayeva, major steps have since been taken towards internationally standardised snow leopard protection. A secretariat has been set up to coordinate cooperation, numerous habitats have been identified and placed under protection, two of which are coordinated by NABU. Otunbayeva's involvement in the implementation of the first International Snow Leopard Forum in 2013 is particularly noteworthy. 

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