Month: April 2025

 

Dr. Shafqat Hussain founded Project Snow Leopard in 1999 as a pilot project and later the Organization was registered in 2007, as Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization (BWCDO), to work with local communities to find a way to compensate them for their livestock loss, while also removing the incentive to retaliate against the snow leopard. 

BWCDO works with remote communities throughout Baltistan in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. Their work currently covers over 18 villages across six valleys. Recently, BWCDO has also started working in Gojal Region in Upper Hunza. BWCDO work with local communities to resolve human wildlife conflict and co-existence

BWCDO’s central mechanisms to resolve the conflict between farmers and snow leopards, are livestock insurance program, building Predator Proof Corrals, conservation education awareness program and research and surveys. This NGO was the first organization to implement livestock insurance schemes to protect the snow leopard in Pakistan. Their unique work are recognized on the international level with Rolex Award, UNDP First Equator Award (2017) and NABU Snow Leopard Prize (2021). 

In this Webinar we are share BWCDO’s 25th year’s contribution and collaboration with local communities for the Snow leopard conservation and human wildlife coexistence in Gilgit Baltistan Pakistan.

 

Please find details below of a new article added to our Bibliography:

Title: Lessons for Transboundary Snow Leopard Conservation: Findings From a GPS Telemetry Study in Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, Nepal

Author: Subba, S. A., Acharya, H. R., Shrestha, S., Koirala, S., Shrestha, R., Thapa, G. J., Thapa, K., Shrestha, A., Malla, S., Bhattarai, G. P., Poudyal, L. P., Khadka, M. B., Gurung, G. S., Bhatta, S. R., Dhakal, M., Subedi, N., Pradhan, N. M. B., Bhandari, A. R., Jnawali, S. R., Limbu, K. P., Dhakal, B. K., Thapa, K.

Abstract: Ensuring the long‐term persistence of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in changing landscapes requires a deep understanding of their spatial ecology and movement behavior. To maintain viable metapopulations and ensure gene flow between populations, there is an urgent need to develop sound and effective conservation plans. This study presents findings from Nepal’s first GPS telemetry study of snow leopards, shedding light on their home range size, habitat selection, and transboundary movements. GPS data were collected from four snow leopard individuals in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, eastern Nepal, over tracking periods ranging from 20 to 659 days, yielding a total of 4707 location points. We used three home range estimators
for analysis: local convex hulls (LoCoH), fixed kernels (Kernel), and minimum convex polygons (MCP). Our results show that home range sizes were 6 to 97 times larger than previous estimates for Nepal, with LoCoH estimates of 310 and 102 km2 (MCP = 730 and 211 km2) for two adult females and 312 km2 (MCP = 1032 km2) for one adult male. Three snow leopards crossed international borders five to seven times, spending, on average, 10%–34% of their time in neighboring countries (China and India), with 28%–50% of their home ranges overlapping India. Our study demonstrates that snow leopards in Nepal have home ranges that are significantly larger than previously documented and frequently cross international borders. These extensive transboundary movements highlight the need for stronger coordination between Nepal, China, and India to ensure the long‐term conservation of snow leopards in this key region of their distributional range.

URL: https://snowleopardnetwork.org/b/show.php?record=1776

Please find details below of a new article added to our Bibliography:

Title: Genomic evidence for low genetic diversity but purging of strong deleterious variants in snow leopards

Author: Yang, L., Jin, H., Yang, Q., Poyarkov, A., Korablev, M., Rozhnov, V., Shao, J., Fu, Q., Hernandez-Blanco, J. A., Zhan, X., Yu, L., Alexandrov, D., Dai, Q., Munkhtsog, B., Du, X., Munkhtsog, B., Ma, L., Chen, W., Malykh, S., Jin, Y., He, S., Zhang, T., Wu, G., Shi, Y., Hu, Y.

Abstract:

Background
Long-term persistence of species with low genetic diversity is the focus of widespread attention in conservation biology. The snow leopard, Panthera uncia, is a big cat from high-alpine regions of Asia. However, its subspecies taxonomy, evolutionary history, evolutionary potential, and survival strategy remain unclear, which greatly hampers their conservation.
Results
We sequence a high-quality chromosome-level genome of the snow leopard and the genomes of 52 wild snow leopards. Population genomics reveal the existence of two large genetic lineages in global snow leopards, the northern and southern lineages, supported by the biogeography. The Last Glacial Maximum drove the divergence of two lineages. Microclimate differences and large rivers between the western and central Himalayas likely maintain the differentiation of two lineages. EPAS1 is positively selected in the southern lineage with almost fixed amino acid substitutions and shows an increased allele frequency with elevation. Compared to the southern lineage, the northern lineage exhibits a lower level of genomic diversity and higher levels of inbreeding and genetic load, consistent with its recent population decline. We find that snow leopards have extremely low genomic diversity and higher inbreeding than other Carnivora species; however, strong deleterious mutations have been effectively purged in snow leopards by historical population bottlenecks and inbreeding, which may be a vital genetic mechanism for their population survival and viability.
Conclusions
Our findings reveal the survival strategy of a species with low genetic diversity and highlight the importance of unveiling both genetic diversity and genetic burden for the conservation of threatened species.

URL: https://snowleopardnetwork.org/b/show.php?record=1775

SLN is excited to invite you to our next webinar from the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.

Camera Trapping

About the talk:

Dr. Shafqat Hussain founded Project Snow Leopard in 1999 as a pilot project and later the Organization was registered in 2007, as Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization (BWCDO), to work with local communities to find a way to compensate them for their livestock loss, while also removing the incentive to retaliate against the snow leopard. 

BWCDO works with remote communities throughout Baltistan in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. Their work currently covers over 18 villages across six valleys. Recently, BWCDO has also started working in Gojal Region in Upper Hunza. BWCDO work with local communities to resolve human wildlife conflict and co-existence.

 

Dr Shafqat with community

 

BWCDO’s central mechanisms to resolve the conflict between farmers and snow leopards, are livestock insurance program, building Predator Proof Corrals, conservation education awareness program and research and surveys. This NGO was the first organization to implement livestock insurance schemes to protect the snow leopard in Pakistan. Their unique work are recognized on the international level with Rolex Award, UNDP First Equator Award (2017) and NABU Snow Leopard Prize (2021). 

In this Webinar we are share BWCDO’s 25th year’s contribution and collaboration with local communities for the Snow leopard conservation and human wildlife coexistence in Gilgit Baltistan Pakistan.

Conservation Education

About our Speaker:

Raza Muhammad is from Skardu, Gilgit Baltistan Pakistan. Born amidst the breathtaking yet challenging landscapes of Gilgit Baltistan, his early life was spent in rugged terrain and harsh winters. The snow-capped peaks, mighty Indus River, and mountains were not just his surroundings, but were inspiring and teaching him resilience, adaptability, and a profound respect for the Wildlife and environment.Raza has dedicated his life to conserving natural beauty and wild species. His ambitions were fulfilled when he joined BWCDO. Raza started his early career with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Pakistan, worked with local communities and gained Environmental Management and social mobilization fieldwork experience. He has been working, since 2019, with the Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization for the conservation of Snow leopard and its prey species with local communities, to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and to create co-existence by giving economic incentives, research and surveys and conservation education awareness, in the Himalayan and Karakorum mountain ranges in Northern Pakistan.

 

About our Facilitator:

Kayley Bateman joined the Snow Leopard Conservancy team as Programs Manager in July of 2023. She coordinates SLC’s conservation, education, and applied research programs and serves as the primary liaison between SLC and its partners. Kayley has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in Animal Science and a Master’s of Art in Biology from Miami University’s Project Dragonfly. Her involvement in Project Dragonfly’s Global Field Program focused on working effectively across diverse ecological and social settings to foster change through community-engaged education, scientific inquiry, environmental stewardship, and global understanding. Last fall, Kayley traveled to Nepal with the Snow Leopard Conservancy to facilitate the One Health – One Welfare program, an interdisciplinary approach aimed at strengthening local capacity to enhance the well-being of both animals and people in Nepal. Before joining the Conservancy, Kayley spent 15 years as an animal care specialist working directly with snow leopards, tigers, bears, and other wildlife in zoological settings.

Receiving compensation

Date/Time:

Tuesday, 22nd April at 19:00 PM (Bishkek time)

Location:

ZOOM, to join this talk, REGISTER HERE

 Please note:

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