20 January, 2014
A group of researchers from the University of Cumbria will be investigating the Kazakh snow leopard population. For more information and a video, please see http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2014-01-20/snow-leopards-get-a-helping-hand-from-cumbria/
Camera trap images of snow leopards have been captured for the first time in Uzbekistan, through a joint Panthera/ WWF project.
For more details and to see one of the pictures, see http://www.livescience.com/42641-snow-leopard-camera-trap-photos.html
Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/realestate/news/WWFIndia-Joins-Hands-with-Tata-Housing-to-Create-CrowdFunding-Campaign-nid-159422.html
WWF-India Joins Hands with Tata Housing to Create Crowd-Funding Campaign
Monday, January 13, 2014
New Delhi: In a significant step towards garnering more support and awareness for snow leopard conservation in India, WWF-India, in partnership with Tata Housing Development Company, launched Project Save Our Snow Leopards (SOS) by unveiling the SOS online crowd-funding platform (www.wwfindia.org/sos) at an event at the WWF-India auditorium on January 10, 2014.
The SOS crowd-funding campaign is the first-ever crowd-funded campaign for species conservation in India, giving individuals a chance to support and directly fund conservation projects. Through the SOS campaign, WWF-India, along with Tata Housing, will build awareness about the conservation issues facing the snow leopard and will aim to raise at least Rs15,00,000 through the crowd-funding platform. The funds raised will be utilised to scale up WWF’s snow leopard conservation projects, like setting up camera traps to study the exact status and distribution of snow leopards in range states, and support the construction of predator-proof livestock pens for local communities in snow leopard habitats that will help in managing snow leopard-human conflict. The campaign will be spearheaded jointly by both organisations and reach out to potential supporters through social and other online media. Tata Housing will also reach out to the Tata group of companies, soliciting support for the SOS campaign through ‘Green Guardians’, an employee engagement initiative.
Tata Housing Development Company, the biggest proponent of green housing in India, became a WWF-India conservation partner in 2012. Tata Housing has also worked with WWF-India to refine their Sustainability Charter, which outlines their commitment towards following environmental sustainability practices in housing development. WWF-India and Tata Housing will also work together to convene forums to promote sustainable housing across the housing infrastructure sector and exchange best practices relating to sustainable housing.
On the occasion, Brotin Banerjee, CEO and managing director, Tata Housing Development Company, said, ‘At Tata Housing, we feel it is important to maintain the ecological balance of natural flora and fauna in the environment, along with creating sustainable green development that help to prevent environmental degradation. Our partnership with WWF-India is in line with our efforts to safeguard and conserve India’s unique natural heritage of high-altitude wildlife populations and their habitats. We hope our efforts to save the snow leopard will result in maintaining the required ecological balance.’
Speaking on the necessity of such steps in snow leopard conservation, Ravi Singh, secretary general and CEO, WWF-India, said, ‘Snow leopards are strikingly beautiful, but sadly very few people are even aware of their existence. Due to the high altitude and difficult terrain they inhabit, snow leopards are also one of the least studied large wild cats, which in turn makes their conservation all the more difficult. By protecting the snow leopard, we ensure the conservation of our fragile mountain landscapes that are one of the biggest sources of freshwater for the Indian subcontinent. We hope this campaign will not only raise the required funds for the snow leopard, but also make people more aware about this magnificent species.’
Through Project SOS, both WWF-India and Tata Housing will continue to work with the central and respective state governments to assess the status and distribution of snow leopards and strategise conservation actions. Local communities will also be engaged to increase awareness about wildlife conservation, and build a positive attitude towards the snow leopard by sharing the results of such conservation efforts.
Sources by : Tata Group
Source: http://www.ecns.cn/2013/12-03/91032.shtml
Date: 03 December 2013
Author: Li Yan, Web Editor, ecns.com
A wild snow leopard was recently photographed pursuing a herd of Ibexes at 5,100 meters, the highest altitude of any snow leopard photographed in China. Snow Leopard Network member Ma Ming was quoted in the article. He estimates the individual photographed to be 2-3 years old.
Read more and view the photos here: http://www.ecns.cn/2013/12-03/91032.shtml
Palaeontologists have recently unearthed evidence of a previously unknown species of prehistoric big cat, which is believed to be an ancestor to modern snow leopards. See journal article here: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1774/20132686.
BBC article full text:
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24913291
Author: James Morgan, Science reporter, BBC News
Date: 13 November 2013
The oldest big cat fossils ever found – from a previously unknown species “similar to a snow leopard” – have been unearthed in the Himalayas.
The skull fragments of the newly-named Panthera blytheae have been dated between 4.1 and 5.95 million years old.
Their discovery in Tibet supports the theory that big cats evolved in central Asia – not Africa – and spread outward.
The findings by US and Chinese palaeontologists are published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.
They used both anatomical and DNA data to determine that the skulls belonged to an extinct big cat, whose territory appears to overlap many of the species we know today.
“This cat is a sister of living snow leopards – it has a broad forehead and a short face. But it’s a little smaller – the size of clouded leopards,” said lead author Dr Jack Tseng of the University of Southern California.
The new fossils were dug up on an expedition in 2010 in the remote Zanda Basin in southwestern Tibet, by a team including Dr Tseng and his wife Juan Liu – a fellow palaeontologist.
They found over 100 bones deposited by a river eroding out of a cliff, including the crushed – but largely complete – remains of a big cat skull.
“We were very surprised to find a cat fossil in that basin,” Dr Tseng told BBC News.
“Usually we find antelopes and rhinos, but this site was special. We found multiple carnivores – badgers, weasels and foxes.”
Among the bones were seven skull fragments, belonging to at least three individual cats, including one nearly complete skull.
The fragments were dated using magnetostratigraphy – which relies on historical reversals in the Earth’s magnetic field recorded in layers of rock.
They ranged between 4.10 and 5.95 million years old, the complete skull being around 4.4 million years of age.
“This is a very significant finding – it fills a very wide gap in the fossil record,” said Dr Manabu Sakamoto of the University of Bristol, an expert on Pantherinae evolution.
“The discovery presents strong support for the Asian origin hypothesis for the big cats.
“It gives us a great insight into what early big cats may have looked like and where they may have lived.”
However, Prof William Murphy of Texas A&M University, another expert on the evolutionary relationship of big cats, questioned whether the new species was really a sister of the snow leopard.
“The authors’ claim that this skull is similar to the snow leopard is very weakly supported based on morphological characters alone, and this morphology-based tree is inconsistent with the DNA-based tree of living cats,” he told BBC News.
“It remains equally probable that this fossil is ancestral to the living big cats. More complete skeletons would be beneficial to confirm their findings.”
Dr Tseng and his team plan to return to the fossil site in Tibet next summer to search for more specimens.
The State Agency for Environment Protection and Forestry of Kyrgyzstan has announced that the International Snow Leopard Conservation Forum will be held in the upcoming months (in September according to one source, and October according to another).
If any Snow Leopard Network member who is planning to attend could send through more information, that would be greatly appreciated.
More information:
After SLN Steering Committee member Sibylle Noras found a product claiming to contain snow leopard fur on the online shopping site etsy.com, pressure to stop offering endangered species products was exerted on Etsy by the Snow Leopard Trust, along with many other members of the SLN and the general public, using the online petition website care2.com. Etsy has now stopped offering these illegal and damaging products, even those that are supposedly “pre-ban.” Etsy is a leader in online shopping, and this change in policy represents a victory for conservation.
More information: http://www.care2.com/causes/victory-etsy-bans-endangered-animal-products.html
A study conducted by WCS and the Snow Leopard Trust and published in “Conservation Biology” shows that the increasing demand for cashmere is driving expansion of domestic goat populations, which is leading to conflict between pastoralists and predators in the region, including snow leopards.
SLN member Charudutt Mishra conducted the study with Joel Berger from the University of Montana and Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar of WCS Mongolia.
Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130724114002.htm
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112906654/cashmere-trade-threatens-wildlife-072513/
Thanks to the Environmental Graduates in Himalaya for alerting us to this piece of news in Issue 259 of the Headlines Himalaya newsletter.
A three-year study carried out by SLN member Som Ale in Annapurna Conservation Area has confirmed the presence of five endangered snow leopards at Bhashu, Namu, Lupra and Muktinath Temple areas, and in the vicinity of Tilicho lake and Thorang La pass. The study team also estimated that there are around 300 snow leopards in Nepal and stressed the need for launching conservation campaigns.
Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=57151
By DILIP POUDEL
BAGLUNG, July 1: As many as five endangered snow leopards have been spotted in the mountain district of Mustang. A three-year study carried out in the district by wildlife experts has confirmed the presence of the rare animal.
Locals believed that there were snow leopards in the mountains and this has now been confirmed, said wildlife experts involved in the study.
Annuparna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) in collaboration with several organizations including Snowland Conservation, conducted the study under the leadership of snow leopard expert Som Ale from 2011.
The study team had fixed nine trapping cameras in the mountains to track the rare wildlife species.
In the course of the study in the past three years, five snow leopards were spotted in an area of 1,000 square kilometers in the district, said Ale. The animals were witnessed at Bhashu, Namu, Lupra and Muktinath Temple areas and in the vicinity of Tilicho lake and Thorang La pass. The areas where snow leopards were spotted are in the altitude between 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters.
“Of the total nine cameras that were installed, one was stolen while one broke down during our survey. Despite the problem, we were able to track five snow leopards,” he said. With the end of the study, the wildlife experts stressed the need for launching conservation campaigns in the highlands of the district for protecting the rare animals. “Their numbers can be increased if the locals take initiatives to conserve teh animals and their habitat,” Ale said.
He said that the animals could draw foreign tourists in large numbers and the country could earn a lot if the government worked toward conserving the animals and increasing their numbers. Also, the inflow of tourists to the district could uplift the economic condition of the locals.
Meanwhile, ACAP officials said they are working to mobilize students to raise awareness among the locals on conservation of the animal.
The study team also estimated that there are around 300 snow leopards in Nepal.
Panthera has allied with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries to conserve Snow Leopards in the mountainous areas where the monasteries are found. The following article provides a thorough interview with Tom McCarthy and Li Juan. Full text is as follows:
Tibetan monks partner with conservationists to protect the snow leopard
Source: http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0610-hance-zacc-mccarthy.html#SEpUrjcuC3twTR0P.99
June 10, 2013
Tibetan monks could be the key to safeguarding the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) from extinction, according to an innovative program by big cat NGO Panthera which is partnering with Buddhist monasteries deep in leopard territory. Listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, snow leopard populations have dropped by a fifth in the last 16 years or so. Large, beautiful, and almost never-seen, snow leopards are the apex predators of the high plateaus and mountains of central Asia, but their survival like so many big predators is in jeopardy.
Tom McCarthy the head of the Snow Leopard Program at Panthera told mongabay.com that the high-altitude predators are facing three major threats: poaching for illegal snow leopard skins, fur, and parts; decline in natural prey; and revenge killing by locals over livestock losses.
 Soujia Monastery. Photo by: Panthera (B. Weckworth). |
“Snow leopards share their mountain habitat with poor herding families whose lives are highly dependent on livestock,” McCarthy says. “When a snow leopard kills a sheep, goat, yak or even a young camel, it is a huge economic loss to the herder. It is hard to blame them for wanting to kill the snow leopard in retaliation.”
To mitigate this conflict, Panthera has turned to Tibetan-Buddhist monasteries as allies. Inhabiting the same sky-high regions as snow leopards in China, Buddhist monks, who maintain a special status in the society, have become effective partners, working with local communities to mitigate conflict and killings while monitoring the cats’ status. Moreover, this program could be expanded across snow leopard habtiat.
“As a strategy, monastery-based snow leopard conservation could be extended to other Tibetan Buddhist regions, covering about 80 percent of global snow leopard range,” explains Li Juan, who is the world’s first female scientist with a PhD in zoology focusing on snow leopards and is currently a post-doctoral student at Peking University. She has played a key role in the work on the Tibetan Plateau, which is a collaboration between the Chinese conservation NGO Shan Shui, Panthera and the Snow Leopard Trust.
Tom McCarthy and Li Juan will be presenting on their work at the 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference on Tuesday, July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa.
AN INTERVIEW WITH TOM MCCARTHY AND LI JUAN
Tom McCarthy far left with monks in China. Photo by: Panthera (T. McCarthy).
Mongabay: What’s your background?
Tom McCarthy: I am a wildlife biologist and started my career in Alaska. I did my MSc on brown bear ecology and then worked with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for several years as a research and management biologist.
Mongabay: What drew you to snow leopards initially?
 Rare image of female snow leopard with cubs. Photo by: Panthera/Shan Shui (E. Zhu). |
Tom McCarthy: It was almost an accident. I had always wanted to work overseas, so when a friend from Alaska was going to Mongolia to film the work of George Schaller I sent a letter along asking if there was anything there I could get involved with. I was thinking one of George’s Asian bear studies. Many months later when the answer came back he said there was a snow leopard project in the Gobi that he needed someone to lead. I had never before even thought of doing snow leopard work, but that project became the basis for my PhD and started me on a 20-year career in this field.
Mongabay: What are the major threats facing this species?
Tom McCarthy: There are several primary threats and they include:
Retribution killing for depredation on livestock. Snow leopards share their mountain habitat with poor herding families whose lives are highly dependent on livestock. When a snow leopard kills a sheep, goat, yak or even a young camel, it is a huge economic loss to the herder. It is hard to blame them for wanting to kill the snow leopard in retaliation.
Loss of natural prey. Snow leopards subsist primarily on large wild mountain ungulates, like ibex, blue sheep, argali, and markhor. Many of those are in decline from poaching for food and sale of parts. In some cases poorly managed trophy hunting is also driving populations down, leaving the snow leopard with little choice but to shift attention to livestock, with the resultant conflict with herders.
Poaching for hides and bones. Snow leopard hides, and more so their bones, are extremely valuable on the black market. A single set of snow leopard bones on the Traditional Asian Medical market can bring upwards of $10,000. Hides remain popular for fur garments, primarily in eastern Europe. Despite the fact they are protected legally in each of their 12 range countries, they are persecuted and hunted in many areas and populations may be in steep declines in some of those.
Mongabay: You’ve partnered with Buddhist monasteries to help save these cryptic cats. Will you tell us how this partnership works?
 Li Juan climbing to snow leopard camera trap site. Photo by: Shan Shui (Li Juan). |
Li Juan: We have since 2009 initiated cooperative programs with four monasteries for snow leopard conservation in the Sanjiangyuan region. We provided funds for patrollers and for buying binoculars, cameras and GPSs, as well as training monks to observe, monitor, and record wildlife systematically. The Rinpoche, Khenpos, and other high-ranking monks were requested to emphasize the special value of snow leopards and other wildlife in their religious convocations. At the same time we distributed snow leopard posters to encourage conservation of this iconic cat. These programs have seen their initial effectiveness.
Mongabay: How do the monks feel about the snow leopards?
Li Juan: Actually, they do not have special feeling about snow leopards. In their view, they treat all beings as equal.
Mongabay: How do the monasteries advocate with local communities for the leopards? Li Juan: The Rinpoche, Khenpos, and other high-ranking monks would emphasize the special value of snow leopards and other wildlife in their religious convocations. They also encourage the locals to swear an oath not to kill wildlife every year.
When some herders complained about their severe loss of livestock to snow leopards, some Khenpos even pay their own money to compensate them. When they encountered Tibetans hunting wildlife, they might ask them to kneel and do penance, order them to leave, or report illegal activities to the local governments.
Mongabay: What scientific duties do the Buddhist monks perform?
Li Juan: The monks do the scientific monitoring routinely, including counting blue sheep, recording the wildlife they encountered, recording the plant phenology etc. Some monks work as our field assistants, help us with collecting feces and changing the batteries and cards of camera traps. They are very excited about the camera trapping and enjoy receiving and sharing the photos with their community.
Mongabay: What is the research uncovering? Any surprises?
Li Juan: We are surprised to find that more snow leopard habitats in the Sanjiangyuan area could be directly protected by monasteries than the core areas of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve. Tibetan monasteries have similar habitat selection with snow leopards, both on the large and small scales. As a strategy, monastery-based snow leopard conservation could be extended to other Tibetan Buddhist regions, covering about 80 percent of global snow leopard range.
Monks reading snow leopard field guide. Photo by: Panthera (T. McCarthy).
Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0610-hance-zacc-mccarthy.html#SEpUrjcuC3twTR0P.99
