The single most quotable statistic here is that Ladakh holds 477 of India's estimated 718 snow leopards — roughly two-thirds of the national population in one Union Territory. That concentration is what makes regulated wildlife tourism both viable and risky. Viable, because snow leopard sightings can support local livelihoods in a region with few economic alternatives, and the design deliberately routes that benefit locally by restricting operations to trained local drivers and guides. Risky, because the snow leopard is a shy, wide-ranging predator in a fragile high-altitude ecosystem where vehicle traffic, disturbance and waste have outsized effects. Modelling the vehicles on Kaziranga and Ranthambore operations imports a proven format, but those are very different habitats — grassland and dry deciduous forest — so the ecological pressures differ. The safari is therefore best understood as an attempt to convert conservation value into local income while keeping access controlled.