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Zhang, L., Lian, X., Yang, X. (2020). Population density of snow leopards (Panthera Uncia) in the Yage Valley Region of the Sanjiangyuan National Park: Conservation Implications and future directions. Artic, Antartic and Alpine Research, 52(1), 541–550.
Abstract: Population-based studies on snow leopard (Panthera uncia) are of theoretical and practical sig- nificance for the conservation of alpine ecosystems, though geographic remoteness and isolation hinder surveys in many promising regions. The Sanjiangyuan National Park on the Tibetan Plateau is acknowledged as a main snow leopard habitat, but most of the region remains unexplored and unknown. We adopted a combined approach of route survey and camera trapping survey to explore the population density of snow leopard in the Yage Valley region of the Sanjiangyuan National Park. Results indicated that (1) large populations of blue sheep contributed to the major food supply for snow leopards, along with diverse prey species as dietary supplementations, and (2) a population density of four to six snow leopards per 100 km2 on the north bank was estimated, and nine to fourteen individuals within the valley core areas were identified. We also argue that under the potential impacts of hydropower dams, this valley ecosystem should be symbolized as a conservation hotspot and therefore merits prioritized conservation. We recommend further surveys combined with novel methods/techniques and advocate a sustainable ecotourism model for the first V-shaped valley along the Yangtze mainstream.
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Zhang, C., Ma, T., Ma, D. (2023). Status of the snow leopard Panthera uncia in the Qilian Mountains, Gansu Province, China. Oryx, , 1–6.
Abstract: Population density estimation is integral to the effective conservation and management of wildlife. The snow leopard Panthera uncia is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and reliable information on its density is a prerequisite for its conservation and management. Little is known about the status of the snow leopard in the central and eastern Qilian Mountains, China. To address this, we estimated the population density of the snow leopard using a spatially explicit capture–recapture model based on camera trapping in Machang in the central and eastern Qilian Mountains during January–March 2019. We set up
40 camera traps and recorded 84 separate snow leopard captures over 3,024 trap-days. We identified 18 individual snow leopards and estimated their density to be 2.26/100 km. Our study provides baseline information on the snow leopard and the first population estimate for the species in the central and eastern Qilian Mountains.
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Yu, C., Ding, N., Li, Y., Liu, Y, Lyu, Z., Munkhtsog, B., Wuliji., Ma, Z., Se, Y., Pei, W., Gao, Y., Zhang, Y., Han, Q., Shi, K. (2022). Preliminary results from applying satellite-tracking on snow leopards for the first time in China. Global Ecology and Conservation, 40(e02346), 1–7.
Abstract: The lack of snow leopards telemetry studies in China has hampered researchers in studying the movement ecology and home range sizes of snow leopards, the knowledge gap of which has affected effective planning and improvement of snow leopard protected areas in China. In 2021, we conducted China’s first snow leopard satellite-tracking project in Qilianshan National Park, China, one of the most representative mountain areas of snow leopard habitat. The outcomes of the research aims to apply gained understanding on snow leopard home range to enhance management and planning of snow leopard protected area. Here we summarize the preliminary home range results on the first three satellite-tracked snow leopards in China. The three snow leopards were followed between 3 and 6 months yielding a total of 7845 GPS locations. Using
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Young, J. C., Alexander, J. S., Bijoor, A., Sharma, D., Dutta, A., Agvaantseren, B., Mijiddorj, T. N., Jumabay, K., Amankul, V., Kabaeva, B., Nawaz, A., Khan, S., Ali, H., Rullman, J. S., Sharma, K., Murali, R., Mishra, C. (2021). Community-Based Conservation for the Sustainable Management of Conservation Conflicts: Learning from Practitioners (Vol. 13).
Abstract: We explore the role of community-based conservation (CBC) in the sustainable management of conservation conflicts by examining the experiences of conservation practitioners trying to address conflicts between snow leopard conservation and pastoralism in Asian mountains. Practitioner experiences are examined through the lens of the PARTNERS principles for CBC (Presence, Aptness, Respect, Transparency, Negotiation, Empathy, Responsiveness, and Strategic Support) that represent an inclusive conservation framework for effective and ethical engagement with local communities. Case studies from India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Pakistan show that resilient relationships arising from respectful engagement and negotiation with local communities can provide a strong platform for robust conflict management. We highlight the heuristic value of documenting practitioner experiences in on-the-ground conflict management and community-based conservation efforts.
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Xiao, L., Hua, F., Knops, J. M. H., Zhao, X., Mishra, C., Lovari, S., Alexander, J. S., Weckworth, B., Lu, Z. (2022). Spatial separation of prey from livestock facilitates coexistence of a specialized large carnivore with human land use. Animal Conservation, , 1–10.
Abstract: There is an increasing emphasis in conservation strategies for large carnivores on facilitating their coexistence with humans. Justification for coexistence strategies should be based on a quantitative assessment of currently remaining large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes. An essential part of a carnivore’s coexistence strategy has to rely on its prey. In this research, we studied snow leopards Panthera uncia whose habitat mainly comprises human-dominated, unprotected areas, to understand how a large carnivore and its primary prey, the bharal Pseudois nayaur, could coexist with human land use activities in a large proportion of its range. Using a combination of livestock census, camera trapping and wildlife surveys, across a broad gradient of livestock grazing intensity in a 363 000 km2 landscape on the Tibetan Plateau, we found no evidence of livestock grazing impacts on snow leopard habitat use, bharal density and spatial distribution, even though livestock density was 13 times higher than bharal density. Bharal were found to prefer utilizing more rugged habitats at higher elevations with lower grass forage conditions, whereas livestock dominated in flat valleys at lower elevations with higher productivity, especially during the resource-scarce season. These findings suggest that the spatial niche separation between bharal and livestock, together with snow leopards’ specialized bharal diet, minimized conflicts and allowed snow leopards and bharal to coexist in landscapes dominated by livestock grazing. In recent years, reduced hunting and nomadic herder’s lifestyle changes towards permanent residence may have further reinforced this spatial separation. Our results indicated that, for developing conservation strategies for large carnivores, the niche of their prey in relation to human land-use is a key variable that needs to be evaluated.
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Xiao, C., Bai, D., Lambert, J. P., Li, Y., Cering, L., Gong, Z., Riordan, P., Shi, K. (2022). How Snow Leopards Share the Same Landscape with Tibetan Agro-pastoral Communities in the Chinese Himalayas. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 13(3), 483–500.
Abstract: The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits a human-altered alpine landscape and is often tolerated by residents in regions where the dominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism, including in Qomolangma NNR on the northern side of the Chinese Himalayas. Despite these positive attitudes, many decades of rapid economic development and population growth can cause increasing disturbance to the snow leopards, altering their habitat use patterns and ultimately impacting their conservation. We adopted a dynamic landscape ecology perspective and used multi-scale technique and occupancy model to better understand snow leopard habitat use and coexistence with humans in an 825 km2 communal landscape. We ranked eight hypothetical models containing potential natural and anthropogenic drivers of habitat use and compared them between summer and winter seasons within a year. HABITAT was the optimal model in winter, whereas ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCE was the top ranking in summer (AICcw≤2). Overall, model performance was better in the winter than in the summer, suggesting that perhaps some latent summer covariates were not measured. Among the individual variables, terrain ruggedness strongly affected snow leopard habitat use in the winter, but not in the summer. Univariate modeling suggested snow leopards prefer to use rugged land in winter with a broad scale (4000 m focal radius) but with a lesser scale in summer (30 m); Snow leopards preferred habitat with a slope of 22° at a scale of 1000 m throughout both seasons, which is possibly correlated with prey occurrence. Furthermore, all covariates mentioned above showed inextricable ties with human activities (presence of settlements and grazing intensity). Our findings show that multiple sources of anthropogenic activity have complex connections with snow leopard habitat use, even under low human density when anthropogenic activities are sparsely distributed across a vast landscape. This study is also valuable for habitat use research in the future, especially regarding covariate selection for finite sample sizes in inaccessible terrain.
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Weckworth, B. (2021). Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) Genetics: The Knowledge Gaps, Needs, and Implications for Conservation. Journal of the Indian Institute of Science, , 1–12.
Abstract: Conservation geneticists apply genetic theory and techniques to preserve endangered species as dynamic entities, capable of coping with environmental change and thus minimizing their risk of extinction. Snow leopards are an umbrella species of High Asia, and a keystone for maintaining biodiversity within this fragile ecosystem. A clear understanding of patterns of snow leopard genetic diversity is critical for guiding conservation initiatives that will ensure their long-term persistence. Yet, a comprehensive analysis of snow leopard genetic variation is lacking. The number of published snow leopard genetic studies is far fewer than for other imperiled big cats. Here, I review the limited genetic work to date on snow leopards and the significant knowledge gaps to be filled. An emphasis must be placed on describing and understanding population genetic dynamics within and among meta-populations to provide information about the interactions between landscapes and the micro-evolutionary processes of gene flow and genetic drift. These results can be used to evaluate the levels and dynamics of genetic and demographic connectivity. A lack of connectivity, particularly in the low density, small populations that typify snow leopards, can lead to multiple demographic and genetic consequences, including inbreeding depression, loss of adaptive potential, and heightened susceptibility to demographic and environmental stochasticity. New efforts in conservation research on snow leopards should focus on this line of inquiry, and the opportunities and challenges for that are outlined and discussed to encourage the required, and considerable, transboundary partnerships and collaborations needed to be successful.
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Watts, S. W., McCarthy, T. M., Namgail, T. (2019). Modelling potential habitat for snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in
Ladakh, India.
Abstract: The snow leopard Panthera uncia is an elusive species
inhabiting some of the most remote and inaccessible tracts of Central
and South Asia. It is difficult to determine its distribution and
density pattern, which are crucial for developing conservation
strategies. Several techniques for species detection combining camera
traps with remote sensing and geographic information systems have been
developed to model the habitat of such cryptic and low-density species
in challenging terrains. Utilising presence-only data from camera traps
and direct observations, alongside six environmental variables
(elevation, aspect, ruggedness, distance to water, land cover, and prey
habitat suitability), we assessed snow leopard habitat suitability
across Ladakh in northern India. This is the first study to model snow
leopard distribution both in India and utilising direct observation
data. Results suggested that elevation and ruggedness are the two most
influential environmental variables for snow leopard habitat
suitability, with highly suitable habitat having an elevation range of
2,800 m to 4,600 m and ruggedness of 450 m to 1,800 m. Our habitat
suitability map estimated approximately 12% of Ladakh’s geographical
area (c. 90,000 km2) as highly suitable and 18% as medium suitability.
We found that 62.5% of recorded livestock depredation along with over
half of all livestock corrals (54%) and homestays (58%) occurred within
highly suitable snow leopard habitat. Our habitat suitability model can
be used to assist in allocation of conservation resources by targeting
construction of livestock corrals to areas of high habitat suitability
and promoting ecotourism programs in villages in highly suitable snow
leopard habitat.
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Vipin, G., T. R., Sharma, V., Kumar, B. K., Gaur, A. (2022). Kleptoparasitic interaction between Snow Leopard Panthera uncia and Red Fox Vulpes vulpes suggested by circumstantial evidence in Pin Valley National Park, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 14(10), 21928–21935.
Abstract: In the present study, we describe an interspecific kleptoparasitic interaction between two sympatric mammalian carnivores in the high altitudinal Trans-Himalaya region of Himachal Pradesh, India. The study was based on the inferences drawn from the circumstantial evidence (direct and indirect) noticed in the study area in Pin Valley National Park. The inferences from the analysis of the evidence suggested the interaction between a Snow Leopard Panthera uncia, a Red Fox Vulpes vulpes, and a donkey. The arrangement of evidence in a sequential manner suggested that a donkey was killed by a Snow Leopard and a Red Fox stole the food from the carrion of the Snow Leopard’s prey. The Red Fox was killed by the Snow Leopard, which was caught while stealing. The present study represents an example of kleptoparasitic interaction between the Snow Leopard and the Red Fox. This study also proves that such interactions may cost the life of a kleptoparasite and supports the retaliation behaviour of Snow Leopards.
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Vannelli, K., Hampton, M. P., Namgail, T., Black, S. A. (2019). Community participation in ecotourism and its effect on local
perceptions of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) conservation. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, , 1–14.
Abstract: Local support and involvement is often essential for effective
wildlife conservation. This study assessed the impact of local
involvement in ecotourism schemes on perceptions of wildlife, promotion
of conservation action, types of values that communities placed on
wildlife, and contexts in which wildlife are considered to be most
valuable. The study used qualitative semi-structured interviews
conducted in seven villages in Ladakh, India, which is an important
region of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) habitat. Results indicated that
in these communities, ecotourism-based interventions encourage more
positive perceptions of wildlife species, in particular the snow
leopard. Achieving change in community perceptions of wildlife is key
when implementing ecotourism schemes to enable more effective
conservation, as well as generating local awareness and value for
wildlife toward problematic keystone species such as the snow leopard,
which are frequently the focus of human-wildlife conflict.
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