Please find details below of a new article added to our Bibliography:
Title: Prediction of potential habitat suitability of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) and niche overlap in the parts of western Himalayan region
Author: Islam, M., Sahana, M., Areendran, G., Jamir, C., Raj, K., Sajjad, H.
Abstract: The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are the inhabitants of remote areas at higher altitudes with extreme geographic and climatic conditions. The habitats of these least-studied species are crucial for sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem. We employed the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) species distribution model to predict the potential habitat suitability of snow leopards and blue sheep and extracted common overlapped niches. For this, we utilised presence location, bio-climatic and environmental variables, and correlation analysis was applied to reduce the negative impact of multicollinearity. A total of 134 presence locations of snow leopards and 64 for blue sheep were selected from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The annual mean temperature (Bio1) was found to be the most useful and highly influential factor to predict the potential habitat suitability of snow leopards. Annual mean temperature, annual precipitation and isoth
ermality were the major influencing factors for blue sheep habitat suitability. Highly influential bio-climatic, topographic and environmental variables were integrated to construct the model for predicting habitat suitability. The area under the curve (AUC) values for snow leopard (0.87) and blue sheep (0.82) showed that the models are under good representation. Of the total area investigated, 47% was suitable for the blue sheep and 38% for the snow leopards. Spatial habitat assessment revealed that nearly 11% area from the predicted suitable habitat class of both species was spatially matched (overlapped), 48.6% area was unsuitable under niche overlap and 40.5% area was spatially mismatched niche. The presence of snow leopards and blue sheep in some highly suitable areas was not observed, yet such areas have the potential to sustain these elusive species. The other geographical regions interested in exploring habitat suitability may find the methodological framework adopted in thi
s study useful for formulating an effective conservation policy and management strategy.
Welcome to our next SLN webinar where we’re excited to introduce you to Ewaso Lions, a Kenya-based conservation organization working to promote coexistence between people and wildlife, specifically large carnivores such as lions. In an upcoming presentation, Ewaso Lions’ Founder & Executive Director, Shivani Bhalla, and Director of Impact and Operations, Toby Otieno, will share how their various community programs with pastoralist communities seek to build local agency and decision-making in carnivore conservation and promote human-carnivore coexistence. Ewaso Lions firmly believes that community-led conservation efforts are key to the success of lion conservation.
Discover innovative community-led programs and gain valuable insights for successful conservation efforts, applicable not only to lions but also to snow leopards and other endangered species. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn and work together towards our shared conservation goals.
About the talk
Ewaso Lions conserves Kenya’s lions and other large carnivores by promoting coexistence between people and wildlife. We firmly believe that the success of lion conservation hinges on the involvement of the local people who live alongside lions. In this talk, Shivani Bhalla, Founder & Executive Director, Ewaso LionsandToby Otieno, Director of Impact and Operations, Ewaso Lions, will discuss the decline in the lion population across Africa before focusing on the ways in which Ewaso Lions’ various community programmes seek to promote human-carnivore coexistence and build local capacity for carnivore conservation. Learn how, as a result of community-led conservation, lions have started to make a comeback in the community areas where Ewaso Lions operates.
About our Guests
Shivani Bhalla. Born and raised in Kenya, Shivani believes the key to lion conservation is working in partnership with local communities. She founded Ewaso Lions in 2007 to promote coexistence between carnivores and people. Shivani is a member of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, African Lion Working Group, Kenya’s Large Carnivore Taskforce and a founding member of the Pride Lion Conservation Alliance. Shivani has a BSc. in Environmental Science from Lancaster University, received her MSc. in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from Edinburgh Napier University and was awarded her DPhil in Zoology from Oxford University in 2017.Previously, she has worked for the Kenya Wildlife Service and Save The Elephants. Shivani moved to Samburu in 2002 and lives in the Ewaso Lions Camp in Westgate Conservancy with her two dogs Kura and Nanyori.
Toby Otieno has vast research and field experience throughout Kenya whilst working with the National Museums of Kenya’s mammalogy department and the Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia. Toby has applied his skills to implement research design, conduct field activities, write research proposals, and author publications in peer reviewed journals. As Ewaso Lions Director of Impact and Operations, Toby takes the lead role in all monitoring activities and research programme management in order to provide data to support our mission. Toby holds a BSc. in Wildlife Management and Conservation from University of Nairobi, and a MSc. in Wildlife Management from Karatina University.
Our Facilitator
Koustubh Sharma is the International Coordinator of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) and the Science & Conservation Director at the Snow Leopard Trust. With more than 20 years of experience in ecological research, wildlife conservation and training, he helps build collaborations and coordinate alliances at multiple levels for snow leopard research and conservation.
If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.
Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.
The webinar will focus on the pressing issue of illegal hunting and its impact on large herbivores, specifically mountain ungulates. Despite increased conservation efforts, many species are still at risk of extinction, and more effective interventions are needed. Our speaker, Arash Ghoddousi, will share his research on analysing ranger-based monitoring data to inform adaptive management. He will present a case study from Golestan National Park, where they identified the main determinants of illegal hunting, such as accessibility, law enforcement, and prey availability. Our discussant, Munib Khanyari, will also share his insights on human-nature relationships in the Trans-Himalayan region of India.
We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming webinar on the topic of illegal hunting and wildlife conservation. The webinar will focus on the pressing issue of illegal hunting and its impact on large herbivores, specifically mountain ungulates. Despite increased conservation efforts, many species are still at risk of extinction, and more effective interventions are needed. Our speaker, Arash Ghoddousi, will share his research on analysing ranger-based monitoring data to inform adaptive management. He will present a case study from Golestan National Park, where they identified the main determinants of illegal hunting, such as accessibility, law enforcement, and prey availability. Our discussant, Munib Khanyari, will also share his insights on human-nature relationships in the Trans-Himalayan region of India.
The webinar is open to all and will take place on Tuesday, 11th April 2023 at 14:00 pm Bishkek time. We will discuss the important role of park rangers in wildlife conservation and how data collection can be used to make more effective decisions for conservation management. We hope to see you there!
About the talk
Poaching is driving many species toward extinction and large herbivores such as mountain ungulates are particularly at risk. Despite ever-increasing conservation efforts worldwide to combat poaching, the status of many target species is alarming and more effective interventions are needed. One of the main requirements for effective conservation measures against poaching is robust predictions of its prevalence and distribution. However, this information is often lacking due to inconsistent or complex data collection approaches. One of the often-untapped sources of data is ranger-based monitoring. In many protected areas, rangers are tasked with patrolling areas and noting their sightings either in analogue (e.g., logbooks) or digital (e.g., GPS) formats. However, in most cases these data are left not analyzed, failing to support adaptive management and decision-making processes.
1401:032016:13C:2566:CAMERA1:3 Illegal hunting in Golestan NP
In this study, we aimed to address this issue and developed a workflow for analyzing data on poaching and wildlife detections from analogue logbooks in an occupancy modelling framework to inform adaptive management. We used Golestan National Park as the case study. We obtained logbook data from nine ranger stations from 2014-2016, and digitized and geolocated 4800 daily patrols. We tested three hypotheses of (1) accessibility, (2) law enforcement, and (3) prey availability as the main determinants of poaching. Our results revealed a low probability (12%) of poacher detection during patrols. Poaching distribution was best explained by prey availability (especially urial), indicating that poachers target areas with high concentrations of ungulates. Poaching pressure was estimated to be high in 39% of our study area. To alleviate poaching pressure, we recommend ramping up patrolling intensity in 12% of the national park. Our approach illustrates the value of analogue ranger logbooks for evidence-based and adaptive planning of protected area management.
DCIM101GOPRO Ranger Patrols in Golestan NP
About our Guests
Arash Ghoddousi is a research fellow at Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany. His research interests lie in understanding the interaction of ecological and social factors in natural systems and how they impact the effectiveness of conservation interventions. The focus of his research is on understanding and improving the effectiveness of protected areas and law enforcement mechanisms, offering insight into human-wildlife conflict and poaching, as well as, improving methods of monitoring large mammals. Arash is particularly interested in the conservation of big cats and mountain ungulates with a special focus on southwest Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. He has close collaborations with conservation organizations around the world including various specialist groups of IUCN (e.g., Cat, Bear and Caprinae SGs), the Snow Leopard Network, and the Society for Conservation Biology – Europe Section.
Meet our discussant – Munib Khanyari – I recently completed my PhD that looked at investigating the impact of environmental and social factors on GIN transmission dynamics between interacting domestic and wild ungulates, exhibiting spatio-temporal dynamics, in temperate Asian rangelands. I now work with the Nature Conservation Foundation as a Program Manager. I work primarily across the Trans-Himalayan region of India, aiming to build positive human-nature relationships.
If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.
Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.
The world’s biodiversity face persistent and changing threats, resulting in degradation of habitats and declines in species populations. Threats are dynamic factors that cause decline or destruction of habitat, population size, or biodiversity in any site of interest. Conducting a comprehensive analysis of threats can be more challenging than it may first appears. Threats can be direct, indirect, local or globally driven and they often vary over time with new threats emerging. The Snow Leopard Network is delighted to invite you to the webinar entitled “Understanding the geographies of Threat”.Our guest Alfredo Romero-Muñoz, from the Humboldt University, Berlin, will share how his team is analysing the impact of threats to wildlife and habitats across the Gran Chaco region in South America. The talk will be facilitated by Dr. Gustaf Samelius, followed by a discussion, with our discussant Dr. Ranjini Murali, on the geography of threats across snow leopard landscapes and exchange on approaches to assess them.
SLN invites you to a discussion with our 2022 Grantees to learn more about their projects and the lessons learned. We will ask our guests to share more about- What was achieved? What were the challenges and opportunities encountered in the implementation of the project? What did the teams learn that could help others wishing to do similar projects? How do teams see the results being applied to conservation? We will then open up the discussion with the audience to discuss effective and respectful strategies for building and exchanging capacities in snow leopard research and conservation among key stakeholders.
The world’s biodiversity face persistent and changing threats, resulting in degradation of habitats and declines in species populations. Threats are dynamic factors that cause decline or destruction of habitat, population size, or biodiversity in any site of interest. Conducting a comprehensive analysis of threats can be more challenging than it may first appears. Threats can be direct, indirect, local or globally driven and they often vary over time with new threats emerging. The Snow Leopard Network is delighted to invite you to the webinar entitled “Understanding the geographies of Threat”.Our guest Alfredo Romero-Muñoz, from the Humboldt University, Berlin, will share how his team is analysing the impact of threats to wildlife and habitats across the Gran Chaco region in South America. The talk will be followed by a discussion, with our discussant Dr. Ranjini Murali, on the geography of threats across snow leopard landscapes and exchange on approaches to assess them.
About the Talk
This fascinating presentation describes research on the impacts of habitat destruction and hunting pressure across the 1.1 million km2 Gran Chaco region in South America – the world’s largest dry forests that has become a global deforestation hotspot. By analysing the impact of these threats in the habitats and populations of different species, we aimed to understand what is the relative impact of these threats, and how those impacts have changed over time. In addition, we explore how the two threats interact in space and what may be the implications of these interactions. The talk will be followed by a discussion and exchange on the geography of threats across snow leopard landscapes.
About our Guest – Alfredo Romero-Muñoz
Alfredo Romero-Muñoz is a researcher at Humboldt University Berlin focused on understanding the impacts that land use change brings to biodiversity, including through habitat destruction and hunting, and identifying opportunities for conserving biodiversity in changing regions.
Our Discussant – Ranjini Murali
Dr. Ranjini Murali has over ten years experience working in snow leopard landscapes. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Biography Lab in Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. She works on understanding the impacts sudden of institutional changes on large carnivore populations. She’s also a conservation scientist with the Snow Leopard Trust and affiliated with the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Programme (GSLEP).
If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.
Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.
Please find details below of a new article added to our Bibliography:
Title: Delivery of educational material increased awareness of the elusive Pallas’s cat in Southern Mongolia
Author: Chimed, O., Lkhagvasuren, D., Alexander, J. S., Barclay, D., Bayasgalan, N., Lkhagvajav, P., Nygren, E., Robinson, S. L., Samelius, G.
Abstract: Public engagement and awareness programs are important components of many conservation programs today as such engagements are often critical for successful conservation. In this study, we examined if delivery of educational material increased awareness of the Pallas’s cat and its environment in a southern Mongolia herder community. We found that knowledge was greater and attitudes toward the Pallas’s cat and wildlife in general were more positive one year after the delivery of the educational material. This study thus suggests that educational material can be effective at increasing awareness of small and elusive species such as the Pallas’s cat.
Please find details below of a new article added to our Bibliography:
Title: Genetic diversity and spatial structures of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) reveal proxies of connectivity across Mongolia and northwestern China
Author: Hacker, C., Atzeni, L., Munkhtsog, B., Munkhtsog, B., Galsandorj, N., Zhang, Y., Liu, Y., Buyanaa, C., Bayandonoi, G., Ochirjav, M., Farrington, J. D., Jevit, M., Zhang, Y., Wu, L. Cong, W., Li, D., Gavette, C., Jackson, R., Janecka, J. E.
Abstract: Understanding landscape connectivity and population genetic parameters is imperative for threatened species management. However, such information is lacking for the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). This study sought to explore hierarchical snow leopard gene flow patterns and drivers of genetic structure in Mongolia and China. A total of 97 individuals from across Mongolia and from the north-eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in Gansu Province to the middle of Qinghai Province in China were genotyped across 24 microsatellite loci. Distance-based frameworks were used to determine a landscape scenario best explaining observed genetic structure. Spatial and non-spatial methods were used to investigate fine-scale autocorrelation and similarity patterns as well as genetic structure and admixture. A genetic macro-division between populations in China and Mongolia was observed, suggesting that the Gobi Desert is a substantial barrier to gene flow. However, admixture and support for a resistance-based mode of isolation suggests connective routes that could facilitate movement. Populations in Mongolia had greater connectivity, indicative of more continuous habitat. Drivers of genetic structure in China were difficult to discern, and fine-scale sampling is needed. This study elucidates snow leopard landscape connectivity and helps to prioritize conservation areas. Although contact zones may have existed and occasional crossings can occur, establishing corridors to connect these areas should not be a priority. Focus should be placed on maintaining the relatively high connectivity for snow leopard populations within Mongolia and increasing research efforts in China.
SLN invites you to a discussion with our 2022 Grantees to learn more about their projects and the lessons learned. We will ask our guests to share more about- What was achieved? What were the challenges and opportunities encountered in the implementation of the project? What did the teams learn that could help others wishing to do similar projects? How do teams see the results being applied to conservation? We will then open up the discussion with the audience to discuss effective and respectful strategies for building and exchanging capacities in snow leopard research and conservation among key stakeholders.
SLN has just announced the 2023 call for applications. Come ask our 2022 Grantees questions about their projects and help potential 2023 applicants address any queries. The SLN Training Grant is made possible through the support of the Pangje Foundation, an SLN member organisation dedicated to protecting snow leopards and helping local communities. The specific goal of the grant centres around buildingcapacities in snow leopard research and conservation among grassroot stakeholders.
Date/Time
Thursday, 09 February, 2023 at 14:00pm Bishkek time
If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.
Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know before the session.
Ranger patrols in Golestan NP
Please find details below of a new article added to our Bibliography:
