LEH/JAMMU: Ladakh lieutenant governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena, Wednesday flagged off India’s first high-altitude wildlife safari focused on snow leopard trails, with an aim of making local communities “equal partners in protecting and promoting Ladakh’s wildlife and benefiting economically”.“Wildlife should not be protected at the cost of people, nor should development come at the cost of wildlife. We must create a model in which both can thrive together,” the LG said after flagging off six safari vehicles.The project, operated by the Snow Leopard and High-Altitude Nature Conservation (SHAN) Society in collaboration with the UT’s forest department, has mapped the safari routes through Hemis National Park, Changthang and Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary, besides Nubra, Zanskar, Sham, Kargil, and Drass districts.Ladakh has 477 snow leopards out of 477 across India. The region is also home to more than 38 mammal species, over 340 bird species, and around 1,800 vascular plant species.