2012 – Snow Leopard Network

Camera traps confirm presence of Pallas Cat

Snow leopard survey cameras confirm the presence of Pallas Cats in an area where there had been no previous photographic evidence of their existence in the area.

Stout and pushy: It uses low vegetation and rocky terrain for cover

Source: http://www.kuenselonline.com/2011/?p=38488
By Passang Norbu

Trap camera image

Wangchuck Centennial Park: Camera traps, set up to survey the snow leopard population in Wangchuck centennial park in Bumthang, has captured and confirmed the presence of another cat in the country, the Pallas cat.

“Several pictures show the Pallas cat at a place called Boera in January and April, and at Marganphu area in February and April this year,” World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials said.

Marganphu is a three-day walk from the nearest road point at Nasiphel in Choekhor gewog, Bumthang; and Boera is a four-day walk. Both places have no human settlement, and the only visitors are yak-herders and cordycep collectors.

With an uncanny resemblance to the comic strip character, Garfield, the Pallas cat is about the size of a domestic cat, 18-26inches long, and weighs between 3-5kg.

The combination of its stocky posture and long, dense fur makes it appear stout and plushy. Its fur is ochre, with dark vertical bars on the torso and forelegs, and its winter coat is greyer and less patterned than the summer one. The legs are proportionately shorter than those of other cats, and ears are set very low and wide apart. With unusually short claws, its face is shortened, compared with other cats, giving it a flattened look.

Pallas cats are not fast runners, and hunt primarily by ambush or stalking, using low vegetation and rocky terrain for cover. They feed largely on diurnally active prey species, such as gerbils, pikas and partridges, and sometimes catch young marmots.

The habitat of the cat, WWF officials said, is characterised by rolling hills, dominated by glacial outwash and alpine steppe vegetation. Pallas cats were spotted on same locations, where other predators, such as snow leopard, Tibetan wolf and red fox, are found.

Wildlife conservation officials say that the Pallas cat is negatively impacted by habitat degradation, prey base decline and hunting, and has therefore been classified as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2002. Hunters, lured by its fur, fat and organs for medicinal value, threaten its survival.

WWF conservation director Vijay Moktan told Kuensel that, although foresters mentioned the presence of Pallas cat in the past, with possibilities of finding the cat at an altitudinal range of 2,800m to 4,000m, until now there had been no pictorial evidence as such. “Before we carry out anything, we first need to discuss it with the government,” he said.

The WWF head office in United States was informed about the finding. The finding could probably be the first report on the occurrence of Pallas cat in the eastern Himalayas, according to WWF-US conservation scientist, Rinjan Shrestha, who has been closely working on the snow leopard survey.

A joint project between WWF and department of forests and park services (DoFPS), camera traps were placed at the end of November last year for the snow leopard survey.

SLN member’s conservation plan reported in National Geographic

SLN member Shafqat Hussain proposes creating protected areas for Snow Leopards in Pakistan.

Source: National Geographic News
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/10/121009-snow-leopards-conservation-big-cats-animals-science/
By Christine Dell’Amore

Snow Leopards Need to be Protected… But How?

One conservationist has a radial new plan – treating the rare cat as a “domesticated” animal.

The snow leopard in Pakistan is an endangered species. The population of the rarely seen big cat has likely fallen to fewer than 450 in the country, mainly due to hunting. Now an expert has come up with an unconventional—and controversial—proposal to save the snow leopard: Classify it as a domesticated animal.

That doesn’t mean that snow leopards are literally tame, like a chicken, explained Shafqat Hussain, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer who spoke during the National Geographic Explorers Symposium in Washington, D.C., in June: “When I say that snow leopards are like domestic cats, I mean it rhetorically to make contrast with the word wild.” (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)

His idea stems from the changing relationship between snow leopards and humans. Where the cats do remain in the Himalaya, they increasingly share their habitat with mountain herders. A 2010 study of snow leopard scat found that up to 70 percent of the species’ diet in the Gilgit Baltistan Province (map) comes from sheep, cattle, and other domestic animals. Some herders have killed snow leopards in retaliation for preying on their livestock. (See pictures and video of snow leopards in Afghanistan.)

Given the snow leopards’ diet, “how do we see these mythical, elusive wild animals? Are they really wild in the sense that of meaning we attach to the word wild—existing on its own, having no connection with society and domestic economy?” Hussain said.

“Clearly not.”

Supporting Locals

So the way to enable snow leopards to survive, says Hussain, is not to create protected areas that sequester them from local communities. That solution often alienates farmers, who lose their grazing areas as a result. He would suggest supporting local herders instead so they can make a living despite snow leopard incursions. (See snow leopard pictures in National Geographic magazine.)

And that’s exactly what he’s been doing for more than a decade. In 1999 Hussain founded the Snow Leopard Project, an insurance scheme that compensates local people in snow leopard-range countries if their livestock are killed by the predators.

Various branches of the successful project, which is jointly managed by project officials and a committee of villagers, have spread to 400 households covering 3,000 animals across central Asia.

Since 1998, close to U.S. $7,000 has been paid out in compensation for lost animals, and $13,000 invested on improving livestock corrals and other infrastructure. Meanwhile, the snow leopard population seems to have remained stable, if not grown, Hussain said.

Snow Leopard Perspective Controversial

Not everyone agrees. In fact, there is great consternation in the big-cat conservation community about Hussain’s ideas, particularly that conservation groups don’t work with locals. (Learn about National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative.)

Tom McCarthy, executive director of the Snow Leopard Program for the big-cat conservation group Panthera, said that he doesn’t “know a single conservation [nongovernmental organization] working on snow leopards today that would support setting up reserves for the cats at the expense of local people.”

For example, before Hussain set up the Snow Leopard Project, McCarthy and colleagues founded the award-winning Snow Leopard Enterprises, which helps local people in snow leopard countries generate income.

Conservation biologist and snow leopard expert Jerry Roe also said by email that relabeling the snow leopard as domestic will not resolve the conflict between snow leopards and herders or benefit the species.

For one, “a change of definition will not alter the perspective of snow leopards as a pest species in the eyes of herders,” said Roe, co-founder of California-based Nomad Ecology, an ecological consulting and research company.

Living with Snow Leopards

Hussain thinks the objections are just not valid. Local people—at least in Pakistan—do not have an “atavistic enmity to snow leopards, [nor] this itch to kill it,” he said. “If they get compensated for their losses, they have no interest in eliminating this animal.”

Such is the case with Mohammed Ibrahim, chairman of Skoyo Krabathang Basingo Conservation and Development Organization in Krabathang, Pakistan (map), who also owns 15 goats. In a phone interview with an Urdu interpreter, Ibrahim said that he’s not worried about snow leopards, mostly because of insurance schemes such as Project Snow Leopard that compensate herders for lost animals.

And since snow leopards have never been known to attack people, Hussain is confident that his scheme would work far better than a conservation policy that separates the leopards from the locals: “The idea of co-existing with snow leopards is easy to implement if you satisfy the villagers.”

Ultimately, conservationists share the same goal: Ensuring that the snow leopard —what Hussain calls a “symbol of the high mountains”—can survive. Whether that will continue to be an animal dependent on people for food, though, is still up in the air.

Saving the Snow Leopard With Microfinance

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/special/environment/eng/saving-the-snow-leopa
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http://www.themoscowtimes.com/special/environment/eng/saving-the-snow-leopar
d-with-microfinance.html#ixzz27fNu9J7M
The Moscow Times

ULUGAN, Altai Republic – In the mountain villages of southern Siberia
where Russia abuts China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the price of sheep’s wool has increased tenfold since 2009. Once, it could be bought for 5 rubles a kilogram, but today local farmers are reluctant to sell for less than 50 rubles ($1.56) a kilogram. Few are troubled about the rising cost, however, which is driven by demand from local craftsmen making clothes, tapestries, toys and knickknacks for the region’s growing tourist market.
With no rail links, the Altai republic has long been accessible only to local visitors and the most adventurous. Some believe it contains the Russian gateway to Shambhala, the mythical paradise of Buddhist tradition. But this remoteness looks set to fade as infrastructure improves and officials, foreign donors, environmental activists and inhabitants foster a tourist boom. A renovated airport was opened in the local capital, Gorno-Altaisk, in 2011,and S7 Airlines began flying the four-hour route from Moscow in June of that year.
During the 2012 tourist season – June, July and August – traffic increased 12.5 percent year on year, and officials are looking to have 3 million tourist visits annually by 2020.
In addition to its spectacular mountain scenery, one of the region’s biggest attractions is the beauty of some of Russia’s most endangered animals: saker falcons, argali mountain sheep and, above all, snow leopards.

Common Ground

Far from being feared, the rise in tourism is welcomed, and encouraged, by officials and conservationists alike.
The uptick in visitor numbers provides new sources of revenue and offers an alternative to poaching, which has brought some native animals to the brink of extinction.
“The idea is for people to understand that it is profitable to protect rare species,” said Mikhail Paltsyn, the Altai co-coordinator for the World Wildlife Fund, who has studied snow leopards for two decades.
The number of snow leopards, which are relatively easy to catch in traps because of their predictable habits, plunged in the 1990s as centrally subsidized agriculture collapsed and left people with few options other than the trade in carcasses and pelts.
The rare predators can also cause carnage if they get inside cattle or sheep pens, said Paltsyn, prompting local farmers to kill them to preserve their flocks.
Snow leopards are now extremely rare in the Altai republic, so the capture of one adult leopard on a video sensor last year caused much rejoicing.
As part of a drive to save the snow leopard, since 2009 the WWF has partnered with Citi Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Citibank, to fund projects to raise awareness of the revenue that could be generated from tourists drawn by the elusive felines.
The many souvenirs available at roadside stands throughout the region featuring the snow leopard, from woolen dolls to wall-size tapestries, may be one sign of success.

Budding Entrepreneurs

But about 10 kilometers outside the small town of Saratan, in the Altai republic’s Ulugan region, Aiyara Yerkemenova, 20, is engaged in something more substantial. She used a 70,000 ruble ($2,188) microloan distributed by local organizations on behalf of Citi Foundation to build a small museum on land perched above a tumbling mountain stream along the road from Ulugan to Saratan.
Yerkemenova, who has a small child and a husband serving in the Army, is obligated to pay back the money within 18 months but hopes to add guest rooms, a ***banya*** and a small restaurant to the complex. The project was her mother’s idea, she said.
Tourists in the area often approach locals to request assistance with hiking and horse riding and to ask about places to camp and buy food, Saratan Mayor Aidar Akchin said.
This sort of project is a way of formalizing these needs and earning money, turning “wild tourists,” who travel with everything they need, into cash cows dependent on local facilities.
“It’s work for people and comfort for the tourists,” he said.
Budding businesswomen like Yerkemenova, whose creditworthiness is low by the standards of any bank, would otherwise struggle to find money for business developments.
“Who else will finance these people?” asked Tatyana Pakhayeva, the head of local fund Sodeistviye, which is one of the organizations chosen by the WWF to distribute Citibank’s cash. Loans are usually between 20,000 and 150,000 rubles, she said.
Sodeistviye evolved from a United Nations Development Program project that ended operations in the area in 2008.
At first, Citi Foundation’s money was handed out via grants, but the foundation switched to loans in 2012 as a more effective way to incentivize entrepreneurship. This year, 1.7 million rubles ($56,900) has been
distributed to 40 recipients.
In her experience with microloans, no one had ever been brought to court for nonpayment, said Pakhayeva. Extensions are granted and debts partly dissolved if necessary.

Gaining Popularity

Tourism is increasing, said Igor Kalmykov, director of the Altai National Park, and it now stands at a level not seen since Soviet times. Growth was about 10 to 15 percent a year, he added.
Citibank funding also helps run seminars and courses for local people that teach basic craftsmanship. There is a focus on the manipulation of wool into felt souvenirs, clothes and wall hangings, hence the rise in wool prices. Classes also cover ceramics skills and techniques for making jewelry from bones and teeth of nonendangered fauna.
Some teachers for these workshops have to be brought in from other countries, like Kyrgyzstan, because local traditions were forgotten under communism.
Kalambina Zhilkovskaya, who lives in Gorno-Altaisk, said that she taught herself to work with wool by watching television programs and that the skill provides her with a useful source of income during the tourist season. But she also wants to develop her talents and be able to make more than curiosities.
“People are in love with natural clothes these days,” she said.

Preservation Side Effect

A primary aim of the Citibank Foundation globally is to encourage small businesses and reduce poverty. Although the Altai republic’s 200,000-strong population is mainly involved in farming, unemployment in some pockets of the territory reaches 90 percent. But aside from alleviating rural poverty and encouraging small business, the microloans and training seminars have also achieved some success in preserving Altai’s indigenous wildlife, local activists said.
Snow leopards are not the only animals in danger. The region’s rare saker falcons are also under threat. Poachers catch the birds and smuggle them across the border into Mongolia or Kazakhstan, where dealers arrange their shipment to wealthy clients in the Middle East who prize them as hunting animals.
It is difficult to catch the hunters. Just 40 park rangers protect the mountainous confines of Altai National Park, which borders the Tyva and Khakasia republics and covers more than 880,000 hectares, 10 percent of the entire Altai republic. Poachers can be criminally charged only if they are caught pulling the trigger or untangling a carcass from a trap, Kalmykov said.
But in recent years, the number of illegal hunters caught has declined 11 percent annually in the Altai-Sayansk region, Paltsyn said.
Poaching, however, is not just the work of locals, who can be redirected to work in the tourist industry.
In a notorious 2009 incident, a helicopter crashed in the Altai Mountains, killing seven of the 11 people on board, including top government officials, who, judging by the carcasses in the aircraft, had been illegally hunting the rare argali mountain sheep.
Encouraging tourism contains many other risks apart from gun-toting officials, including littering and uncontrolled development.
Most people on the ground are aware of the drawbacks of tourism but still see it as the key to preserving the wildlife of the Altai.
Huge numbers of tourists are unlikely, said Paltsyn, who doubts that the region’s burgeoning popularity could have a negative effect on its natural treasures.
“It’s more exclusive tourism than mass tourism,” he said.

Viral infection hits Himalayan blue sheep in wild

Shimla, Sep 20 (IANS) – The Himalayan blue sheep or bharal, an important prey of the endangered snow leopard, is under threat in the wild from a highly contagious viral infection in the Spiti Valley, the state’s northernmost part that runs parallel to the Tibetan border.

Wildlife officials say a large number of blue sheep have been reported to be suffering from foot-and-mouth disease.

“A large number of blue sheep suffering from the disease were spotted in the Demul (village) area,” Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife) Rajeev Kumar said.

Kumar told IANS on the telephone from Kaza town that local sheep and goat breeders have reported the spread of the disease to the wildlife wing.

Foot-and-mouth is an acute contagious disease of cloven-footed animals marked by ulcers in the mouth and around the hoofs.

Kumar said even camera traps (automatic cameras) laid by the wildlife department in coordination with Mysore-based NGO Nature Conservation Foundation in the Spiti Valley to study the habitat of snow leopard have recorded the infected animals.

“Since the domesticated goats and sheep share the grazing grounds with wild animals, there are chances that the blue sheep acquired the disease from the domesticated ones,” he said.

A wildlife team has been despatched to gauge the extent of the disease. The local animal husbandry authorities have been told to treat the domesticated animals in case the infection spreads, the wildlife official added.

Migratory shepherds, who are returning to the lower pasture lands owing to the onset of winter, have also spotted carcasses of the blue sheep, the species listed as least concern by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), another official said.

The blue sheep, which inhabit open grassy slopes in high mountains from 2,500 to 5,500 metres, often migrate between India and China’s Tibetan plateau.

According to wildlife experts, the rise in the population of domesticated animals in the remote, inaccessible mountains can pose a threat to the wild animals.

“This might even threaten the Asiatic ibex – a wild goat species – another prey of the snow leopard prominently found in Spiti,” an expert said.

Sandeep Rattan, a veterinary surgeon with the wildlife wing, said intermingling of domesticated and wild animals and fomites are mainly responsible for the spread of the foot-and-mouth disease. Its agent may also be carried by the wind from an infected farm.

“It’s not possible to vaccinate the animals in the wild, especially where their habitat is rocky and cliffy. Recovery in the wild is automatic provided the secondary bacterial infection doesn’t complicate the disease,” he said.

The snow leopard, bharal, ibex, musk deer, mouse hare, long-tailed marmot and wild ass are prominent mammal species found in the alpine and cold desert regions of Spiti.

Source: http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/09/20/7–Viral-infection-hits-Himalayan-blue-sheep-in-wild-.html

National Geographic Explorer of the Week: Tshewang Wangchuk

Congratulations to Snow Leopard Network member Tshewang Wangchuk for being featured by National Geographic!

National Geographic – Explorer Tshewang Wangchuk possesses an unusual collection of three hundred scat samples from elusive snow leopards in Bhutan. He gathered these samples with a grant from National Geographic in 2009 to examine the snow leopard population status and its relation to livestock predation using non-invasive tactics. More recently, Wangchuk just returned from the field this summer where he was part of a team that collared four takins, Bhutan’s rather odd-looking national animal. In addition to this work with the animals of Bhutan, Wangchuk—in his role as executive director of the Bhutan Foundation—strives to serve the people of Bhutan by sharing their culture with others. If all this wasn’t enough to keep him occupied, Wangchuk also is completing his doctoral degree in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana.

For the inspiring interview and pictures, see full story here: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/05/explorer-of-the-week-tshewang-wangchuk/

Healthy populations of predator and prey documented in MisgarChapurson, Gilgit-Baltistan

Thanks to SLN member Ali Nawaz for distributing this press release to the SLN.

SNOW LEOPARD FOUNDATION

“Abundance of signs suggest a healthy population of snow leopards in Misgar-Chapurson”, says Hussain Ali from Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) on completion of a month long site occupancy surveys in Misgar and Chapurson valleys, Hunza-Nagar, GilgitBaltistan. He explains objective of this survey was to explore presence/abundance of snow leopards and other sympatric carnivores in the area, as well as their conflicts with the local community.

A team comprising of four experienced researchers (Hussain and Yunus from SLF, Sher Muhammad (WCS), and Ikramullah Goher from GB Wildlife Department) and four assistants scanned a total of 63 girds (5×5 km), spreading over an area of about 2500 sq. km, within Misgar and Chapurson valleys, and documented signs of the carnivore community through standard protocol. Signs of the snow leopard were most common followed by the wolf, and brown bear. For the purpose of genetic analysis, SLF team collected about 100 fecal samples of the snow leopard. Genetic samples were also collected for wolf, brown bear, and red fox. The other wildlife encountered during the survey included Himalayan ibex, golden marmot, cape hare, and stone martin.

Snow Leopard scat and pug mark observed in MisgarChapurson

Population of a predator like snow leopard cannot sustain its existence without the availability of its natural prey. Thus a balance between the populations of predator and prey ensures health and functionality of an ecosystem. The SLF team assessed population of wild ungulates in the two valleys by adapting double observer method, a new technique recently developed by the SLT for ungulate surveys. The team sighted 19 Himalayan ibex in Chapurson and 83 in three different herds in Misgar valley. Relevant statistics estimates a population of about 150 ibex, indicating a healthy prey population to support snow leopards. The team also explored presence of Marco Polo sheep in the area, which has been reported in the past. Our team did not encounter this species during the survey, however local community report that Marco Polo sheep do visit Misgar Valley occasionally from the neighboring China.

The local community’s perception about carnivores was generally negative, as the human-carnivore conflict has high prevalence in the both valleys, predominantly due to livestock predation. The SLF team encountered quite a few livestock carcasses during the survey. Poaching and overgrazing are major threats to wildlife in the both valleys. Watch and ward by the GB wildlife department need to be improved. Conservation programs addressing humancarnivore conflicts can enhance acceptance of snow leopards and other larger carnivores in the area.

The Snow Leopard Foundation carried out this study in conjunction with GB Wildlife Department, and Wildlife Conservation Society. We are thankful to the Chapurson Local Support Organization, Youth Organization of Misgar for providing support during the field surveys. SLN’s Snow Leopard Conservation Grant provided field cost of this study.

A herd of Himalayan ibex sighted at Dilsung, Misgar Valley, GB

A carcass of sheep killed by Snow Leopard in Misgar valley, GB

First Snow Leopards Collared in Afghanistan

Wildlife Conservation Society –

WAKHAN CORRIDOR, AFGHANISTAN, (July 17, 2012) – Two snow leopards were captured, fitted with satellite collars, and released for the first time in Afghanistan by a team of Wildlife Conservation Society conservationists and Afghan veterinarians conducting research during a recent expedition.

The team successfully captured and released the male snow leopards on May 27 and June 8 respectively. Each cat was weighed, measured, fitted with a Vectronix satellite collar, and DNA samples were taken. After DNA samples, the healthy snow leopards were released and headed up the Hindu Kush Mountains in good condition. The big cats will be tracked by WCS to better understand their behavior and range. So far, the first snow leopard, Pahlawan, has travelled more than 125 kilometers; while the second cat, Khani Wakhai, has travelled more than 153 kilometers.

The veterinary team, including WCS’s Dr. Stephane Ostrowski and two Afghan colleagues Dr. Ali Madad and Dr Hafizullah Noori, conducted the tranquilizing process at the capture sites along with Nat Geo WILD’s Boone Smith, an expert tracker who traveled to Afghanistan for the project with the Nat Geo WILD film crew.

The work was generously supported by the National Geographic Society, Nat Geo WILD and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

An adult snow leopard stands about two feet at the shoulder and weighs between 60 and 120 pounds. The snow leopard is an alpine rock-climbing specialist with large paws that are ideally adapted to both rocky terrain and deep snow drifts and thick fur to stay warm.

David Lawson, WCS Afghanistan Country Director, said: “These captures are sensational. They are also a real tribute to the knowledge of the local community rangers and the success of our recent camera trapping efforts, which enabled the team to select spots that were known to be frequented by snow leopards.”

The range of the snow leopard includes about 2 million square kilometers across 12 nations in Asia from Russia to Nepal. It is the apex predator and a flagship species for one of the last great wilderness regions on earth – the spectacular mountain ranges of Asia, including the Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamir, Tien Shan, and Altai ranges.

The entire process was documented by a Nat Geo WILD television crew for a world premiere special Snow Leopards of Afghanistan premiering this December on Nat Geo WILD during the third annual Big Cat Week, an extension of the Cause An Uproar campaign, dedicated to saving the world’s big cats.

Despite survival skills such as spectacular leaping ability and coloring that camouflages them to near invisibility on the rocky alpine slopes of their native habitat, the snow leopard faces threats that are bringing this species closer to extinction. Snow leopards have been categorized as an Endangered Species on the IUCN’s Red List since 1972, and the species is listed as endangered by almost all range countries. Despite these listings, snow leopard populations are still thought to be dwindling across most of their range. Some 3,000 to 7,500 individuals are thought to exist.

There are five major threats facing snow leopards in the wild: poaching, especially for the skins but also for the traditional medicinal trade; loss of natural wild prey (mostly wild sheep and goats, but also marmots and smaller prey); retaliatory killing by shepherds and villagers when snow leopards switch to livestock as the only available alternative food source; general disturbance of habitat as people increasingly move into snow leopard ranges; and lack of awareness by local communities and governments of the rapid disappearance of snow leopards and the need for improved enforcement both in and outside protected areas.

Peter Zahler, WCS Deputy Director of Asia Programs, said: “The information garnered from the tagging will assist researchers as they learn more about the range, behavior, movements, and habitat used by snow leopards. This information in turn will help us in our partnership with the Afghan Government and local communities to design protected areas and management strategies to optimize the conservation of this big cat.”

WCS works closely with Afghanistan government partners including the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) to find ways to save snow leopards while improving local people’s livelihoods.

NEPA Director General Mostapha Zaher said, “History is being made. Snow leopards are indeed magnificent creatures, and we hope that this research will raise awareness and help in preserving Afghanistan’s snow leopards and our country’s other wonderful wildlife.”

Ghani Ghuriani, Afghanistan Deputy Minister for Agriculture Affairs in the Ministry of Agriculture, said: “The snow leopard is an iconic species for our country. Its continued presence in Afghanistan shows that our efforts at improving natural resource management – from rangeland practices to wildlife protection – are succeeding.”

While this is the first collaring effort in Afghanistan, WCS supported the first ever radio-collar study of snow leopards in Mongolia’s Gobi Altai Mountains in the 1990s under the leadership of Dr. George Schaller. WCS has a long history of working on snow leopard conservation, beginning with Schaller’s wildlife surveys on snow leopards and their prey in the Himalaya in the 1970s, resulting in his seminal books “Mountain Monarchs” and “Stones of Silence.” Schaller and colleagues have followed up that work with ongoing conservation efforts in China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

Source: http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2012071716000040.html

Endangered Snow Leopard Habitat Threatened by Climate Change, WWF Study Shows

Washington D.C. (PRWEB) July 16, 2012

Thirty percent of snow leopard habitat may be lost in the Himalayas, due to treeline shift.

A new study shows that climate change presents a heightened threat for snow leopards in the Himalaya Mountains, according to conservation group World Wildlife Fund.

The study, carried out by WWF scientists and published in the journal Biological Conservation, shows that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase steadily, 30 percent of snow leopard habitat in the Himalayas may be lost to treeline shift.

Snow leopards, an endangered species with a remaining population roughly estimated to be between 4,000 and 6,500 individuals, are sparsely distributed in the mountains of northern and central Asia, including part of the Himalaya Mountains. In the Himalayas, snow leopards live in high alpine areas, above the treeline and generally below 16,000 feet, where they are able to stealthily track their prey. According to the study, warmer and wetter conditions in the Himalayas will likely result in forests ascending into alpine areas, the snow leopards’ preferred habitat.

“We know that snow leopards rarely venture into forested areas, and there’s a limit to how high these animals can ascend. If the treeline shifts upwards, as our research predicts it will, we’re looking at the snow leopard faced with diminishing options for where it can live,” said Jessica Forrest, a WWF scientist and one the study’s authors.

The study used both computer modeling and on-the-ground tracking efforts in high elevation areas, and modeled the impacts of various warming scenarios on the Himalayan portion of the snow leopard range. Warming at high elevations in the Himalayas is occurring at rates higher than the global average.

The researchers first used field-based data and environmental information such as land cover, terrain ruggedness, and elevation to map current snow leopard habitat. They then used statistical methods to look at the potential impact of climate change on the Himalayan treeline under three greenhouse gas emissions scenarios available from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC projects temperatures in the region to increase by 3-4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, accompanied by an increase in annual precipitation.

Researchers identified areas that are likely to remain resilient to the effects of climate change, and would thus provide habitat to snow leopards under future climate conditions. Many of these areas span national boundaries, emphasizing the need for transboundary cooperation to protect this rare species.

Researchers also emphasized the need to minimize pervasive threats like illegal hunting, human-wildlife conflict, and overgrazing of livestock in snow leopard habitat. Minimizing these concurrent threats will help snow leopards better deal with the additional stress of losing habitat to climate change.

“Loss of alpine habitat not only means less room for snow leopards, but also has the potential to bring them closer to human activities like livestock grazing. As grazing intensifies and the leopards’ natural prey decline, they could begin preying more heavily on livestock, resulting in increased retaliatory killings,” said WWF snow leopard expert and study co-author Dr. Rinjan Shrestha. As part of their findings, researchers also recommended monitoring the impacts of climate change as they evolve, and adapting management strategies accordingly.

Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebworldwildlife/fund/prweb9691431.htm
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Lee Poston, 202-495-4536, Lee(dot)Poston(at)wwfus(dot)org

First Ever Videos of Snow Leopard Mother and Cubs Recorded in Mongolia

New York, NY – For the first time, the den sites of two female snow leopards and their cubs have been located in Mongolia’s Tost Mountains, with the first known videos taken of a mother and cubs, located and recorded by scientists from Panthera , a wild cat conservation organization, and the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT).

Pictures and videos can be found on Panthera’s website, here

Because of the snow leopard’s secretive and elusive nature, coupled with the extreme and treacherous landscape which they inhabit, dens have been extremely difficult to locate. This is a tremendous discovery and provides invaluable insight into the life story of the snow leopard.

Dr. Tom McCarthy , Executive Director of Panthera’s Snow Leopard Program stated, “We have spent years trying to determine when and where snow leopards give birth, the size of their litters, and the chances a cub has of surviving into adulthood. This is one of those exceptional moments in conservation where after years of effort, we get a rare glimpse into the life of an animal that needs our help in surviving in today’s world. These data will help ensure a future for these incredible animals.”

A short video of the female and her cub who were bedded down in a partially man-made den was recorded from a safe distance by Orjan Johansson , Panthera’s Snow Leopard Field Scientist and Ph.D. student, using a camera fixed to an extended pole.

The team, which included a veterinarian, entered the two dens (the first with two cubs, and the second containing one cub) while the mothers were away hunting. All three cubs were carefully weighed, measured, photographed and other details were recorded. Two of the cubs were fixed with tiny microchip ID tags (the size of a grain of rice) which were placed under their skin for future identification. The utmost care was taken in handling the animals to ensure they were not endangered, which was the top priority of the team at all times. In the following days, the team monitored the mothers’ locations to ensure that they returned to their dens and their cubs, which they successfully did.

“Knowledge about the first days and weeks of life is vital to our understanding of how big cat populations work, and how likely it is for a newborn to reach adulthood and contribute to a healthy population. A valid conservation program requires such information, which this new development in snow leopard research provides,” said Dr. Howard Quigley , Panthera’s Executive Director of both Jaguar and Cougar Programs.

Referred to by locals as ‘Asia’s Mountain Ghost,’ knowledge of snow leopards in general is quite limited due to the cat’s elusive nature, and even less is known about rearing cubs and cub survival in the wild. Until now, what is known has mostly been learned from studying snow leopards in zoos. Although snow leopard litters typically consist of one to three cubs in a captive zoo environment, no information exists regarding litter size in the wild. As wild snow leopard cubs are subject to natural predators, disease, and also human threats such as poaching or capture for the illegal wildlife market, the percentage of cubs which survive to adulthood has until now only been speculated.

The use of PIT tags and observations of snow leopard rearing in the wild will allow our scientists to learn about the characteristics of a typical natal den and speculate how a den is selected, how long snow leopard cubs remain in dens, when cubs begin to follow their mothers outside of the dens, how often and how long the mother leaves the cubs alone to hunt, how many cubs are typically born in the wild, and other valuable data. All of these data and more, gathered through camera-trapping and GPS collaring, help to inform effective conservation initiatives undertaken by Panthera across the snow leopard’s range.

Source: Panthera.org

Snow leopard caught on camera in Uttarakhand

For the second year in a row a snow leopard was captured by the cameras installed in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.

The NDBR is taking technical support of the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for this special exercise which began last year. A total of fifteen camera traps were installed in different parts of the NDBR this time. The operation began on April when snow leopards move to lower land in search of food. A photograph of the snow leopard, taken this year, was released by the NDBR recently.

The NDBR, which includes Nanda Devi National Park and the Valley of Flowers National Park, was declared as biosphere reserve under the Unesco’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme in 2004.

BK Gangte, director of NDBR, said, “Only the fortunate get a chance to watch the endangered snow leopard in the wild. We launched this project last year to capture images of snow leopard through camera traps. This is the second time in two year when we were successful in taking image of the snow leopard. Besides the snow leopard we were also successful in taking pictures of monal, musk deer, blue sheep and many other threatened species this year.”

This time the snow leopard was spotted near Farkya village in Chamoli. The village is located near an Indo-Tibetan Border Police post in the high Himalayas. Last year, on April 10, a snow leopard was caught on camera at Malari region of NDBR.

It is estimated that the total population of snow leopards in India is about 500. Most of the time the snow leopard was monitored through carnivore sign surveys based on evidences such as tracks/pug marks.

Only a few sightings by forest personnel and local villagers or herders were reported from NDBR, Gangtori National Park and Govind National Park in Uttarakhand. However there was no photographic record of snow leopard from Uttarakhand, till last year. After last year’s success, the forest staff continued the operation this year too.

The most beautiful, rare and elusive big cat – the snow leopard – inhabits high altitudes of the Himalayas (3,000 mts) and is the top carnivore of the Himalayan ecosystems.

The snow leopard preys on blue sheep, musk deer, Himalayan tahr, and many small mammals such as marmot, pika and galliformes (snowcock, monal, snow partridge etc). It also preys on domestic livestock when they are herded in the high altitude pasture lands during summer.

It is threatened due to poaching for skin and bones and retaliatory killings against livestock loss.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/snow-leopard-caught-on-camera-in-uttarakhand/1/203289.html