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Zou, H., Zheng, X. (2003). China Snow Leopard Conservation Strategy Investigation and Analysis. China Wildlife, , 54–55.
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Jackson, R., Hillard, D. (2003). Non-invasive Monitoring to Support Local Stewardship of Snow Leopards and Their Prey: Annual progress report summary.
Abstract: Under this grant awarded by The Leonard X. Bosack and Bette M. Kruger Foundation through the auspices of Cat Action Treasury, SLC set out to accomplish the following outcomes in our Stewardship Program:
As of July 1, 2003 we completed the following major activities:
* Tested and compared different remote sensor and camera configurations to determine which is most reliable at “capturing” passing snow leopards;
* Investigated sampling strategies and camera trap placement with respect to snow leopard travel patterns and marking behavior;
* Compared different survey methods: direct (non-invasive capture of photos and DNA material contained in hairs), and indirect (sign transects and presence/absence surveys under the standard SLIMS protocol);
* Assessed the attitude of local people toward snow leopards, wolves and other wildlife as well as their perceptions of benefits and costs associated with the Hemis National Park, in order to craft more effective conservation and park management measures.
These activities mesh with SLC’s ongoing program of predator-proofing livestock corrals in settlements of the Hemis National Park, as well as outside protected areas (including Zanskar, Lingshed and Kanji. For each village’s corrals that are improved, we estimate that five or more snow leopards are saved from retaliatory killing by shepherds who lose valuable livestock.
Our program in assisting villagers to gain supplementary income from tourism-related activities is gaining strength, with trainings in 10 settlements this spring. SLC brought staff of KCC, the Khangchenjunga Conservation Committee, a local NGO based in Sikkim to assist in the skills training and to exchange ideas and experiences from other areas.
Following on from the groundwork laid during the first Bosack-Kruger grant to SLC, we launched a major initiative in collaboration with the Mountain Institute, the Himalayan Homestay program. Funding for this is being provided by UNESCO.
For further information on these and other snow leopard conservation efforts, see our newly designed web-page.
The following paragraphs summarize our accomplishments to date, supported by this grant. For detailed information, please consult the following reports, which are being mailed under separate cover:
1) “Local People’s Attitudes toward Wildlife Conservation in Hemis National Park with Special Reference to the Conservation of Large Predators” (prepared by Rodney Jackson, Rinchen Wangchuk and Jigmet Dadul)
2) “Non-Invasive Monitoring to Support Stewardship of Snow Leopards and Their Prey:
Evaluation of Remote Camera Traps for Censusing Snow Leopards” (prepared by Rodney Jackson and Jerry Roe).
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Namgail, T. (2003). Gya-Miru: last refuge of the Tibetan argali. Sanctuary Asia, 23, 16–21.
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Karanth, K. U., Nichols, J.D., Seidensticker, J., Dinerstein, E., David Smith, J.L., McDougal, C., Johnsingh, A.J.T., Chundawat, R.S., Thapar, V. (2003). Science deficiency in conservation practice: the monitoring of tiger populations in India. Animal Conservation, 6, 141–146.
Abstract: Conservation practices are supposed to get refined by advancing scientific knowledge. We study this phenomenon in the context of monitoring tiger populations in India, by evaluating the ‘pugmark census method’ employed by wildlife managers for three decades. We use an analytical framework of modern animal population sampling to test the efficacy of the pugmark censuses using scientific data on tigers and our field observations. We identify three critical goals for monitoring tiger populations, in order of increasing sophistication: (1) distribution mapping, (2) tracking relative abundance, (3) estimation of absolute abundance. We demonstrate that the present census-based paradigm does not work because it ignores the first two simpler goals, and targets, but fails to achieve, the most difficult third goal. We point out the utility and ready availability of alternative monitoring paradigms that deal with the central problems of spatial sampling and observability. We propose an alternative sampling-based approach that can be tailored to meet practical needs of tiger monitoring at different levels of refinement.
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Mallon, D. (2003). An early record of snow leopard in Myanmar. Cat News, 39(Autumn), 24.
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The Snow Leopard Conservancy. (2003). Local People's Attitudes toward Wildlife Conservation in the Hemis National Park, with Special Reference to the Conservation of Large Predators (Vol. 7). Sonoma, California.
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Jain, N., Wangchuk, R., & Jackson, R. (2003). An Assessment of CBT and Homestay Sites in Spiti District, Himachal Pradesh.
Abstract: The survey described in this report builds upon prior CBT activities undertaken by The Mountain Institute (TMI) in partnership with the Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC) in Ladakh, supported by a grant from UNESCO (with co-financing from SLC). Under the evolving concept of “Himalayan Homestays”, initially developed and tested in Ladakh, it is proposed that activities be expanded to selected states in India in a strategic and effective way. Himalayan Homestays are part of a larger integrated program to link snow leopard conservation with local livelihoods in Asia.
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Kyes, R., & Chalise, M. K. (2003). Snow Leopard Study Summary 2003, Langtang National Park, Nepal.
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Raghavan, B., Bhatnagar, Y., & Qureshi, Q. (2003). Interactions between livestock and Ladakh urial (Ovis vignei vignei); final report.
Abstract: The Ladakh urial (Ovis vignei vignei) is a highly endangered animal (IUCN Red List 2000) listed in the Appendix 1 of CITES and Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Its numbers had been reduced to a few hundred individuals in the 1960s and 70s through hunting for trophies and meat (Fox et al. 1991, Mallon 1983, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, IUCN Red List 2000). However, with the protection bestowed by the IWPA 1972, and resultant decrease in hunting, the population seems to have shown a marginal increase to about 1000-1500 individuals in its range in Ladakh (Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, IUCN Red List 2000). Although the species had in the past, been able to coexist with the predominantly Buddhist society of Ladakh, the recent increase in the population of both humans and their livestock has placed immense pressures on its habitat (Shackleton 1997, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2003). This is especially important considering that the Ladakh urial habitat coincides with the areas of maximum human activity in terms of settlements, agriculture, pastoralism and development, in Ladakh (Fox et al. 1991, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2003). Increased developmental activities such as construction of roads, dams, and military bases in these areas have also increased the access to their habitat. This has consequently made the species more vulnerable to the threats of poaching and habitat destruction (Fox et al. 1991, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2002). Pressure from increased livestock grazing is one of the major threats faced by the species today (Shackleton 1997, Fox et al. 1991, Mallon 1983, IUCN Red List 2000 Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2003). In the impoverished habitat provided by the Trans-Himalayas, there is great competition for the scarce resources between various animal species surviving here (Fox 1996, Mishra 2001). The presence of livestock intensifies this competition and can either force the species out of its niche (competitive exclusion) by displacing it from that area or resource, or lead to partitioning of resources between the species, spatially or temporally, for coexistence (Begon et al. 1986, Gause 1934).
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Theile, S. (2003). Fading Footprints: The Killing and Trade of Snow Leopards. Caimbridge, UK: Traffic International.
Abstract: Snow Leopards, in a genus of their own, are endangered big cats. They inhabit rugged,
mountainous terrain, in 12 range States – Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
There are regional differences in prey, but the cats' natural prey includes ungulates and rodents.
The global population of Snow Leopards is estimated to be between about 4000 and 7000, but
sharp declines in populations have been reported over the past decade from parts of the species's
range. High levels of hunting for the animals' skins and for live animals, for zoos, during the
last century contributed to the species's endangered status and, from the 1970s, legal measures
were taken for its protection. In 1975, the species was listed in Appendix I of CITES (the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora) and in 1985 it
became an Appendix-I species of the Convention of Migratory Species. It has been accorded
nation-wide legal protection in almost every range State, in some cases since the 1970s. In spite
of such provision, Snow Leopards have been hunted during the 1990s in numbers as high as at
any time in the past and this killing continues in the present century. This report details the status of illegal poaching and trade in snow leopards in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
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