Girl with snow leopard in state (8)
I believe the answer is:
announce
'state' is the definition.
(announcing is a kind of stating)
'girl with snow leopard' is the wordplay.
'girl' becomes 'ann' (woman's name).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'snow leopard' becomes 'ounce' (ounce is an alternative name for the snow leopard).
'ann'+'ounce'='ANNOUNCE'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for announce that I've seen before include "Formally declare" , "Declare publicly" , "Make known publicly with no nuance" , "Broadcast (information)" , "Make public statement, proclaim" .)