Abstract: Nepal's snow leopards (Uncia uncia) are mostly found along the northern border with Tibet (China). The largest populations are in Dolpa, Mugu, Manang, and Myagdi Districts. Potential habitat totals about 30,000 square kilometers. Numbers are estimated at 300-500, but surveys are urgently needed to confirm this rough guess. Like elsewhere, the primary threats center on poaching, depletion of natural prey, livestock depredation and resultant retributive killing of snow leopards by herders, and the lack of public awareness and support for conserving snow leoaprds, especially among local herders.

Abstract: Livestock depredation is an increasingly contentious issue across the range of the
endangered snow leopard (Uncia uncia). Depredation is most severe in or near protected areas
offering core habitat for this cat. “Surplus killing,” in which as many as 100 sheep and goats have
been killed in a single night, inevitably results in attempts at retaliatory killing of predators by
herders suffering significant loss. Ironically, such predation by snow leopard, wolf, or lynx can be
avoided by adequately predator-proofing nighttime enclosures. Predation on the open range is far
more difficult to address, but may be reduced to acceptable levels through improved day-time
guarding of livestock, educating herders on the importance of protecting the predator's natural prey
base, and by providing economic incentives to help offset unavoidable loss.
This paper describes community-based initiatives being undertaken in India's Hemis National Park
aimed at predator-proofing livestock corrals and encouraging local herders to become more effective
stewards of the snow leopard, its prey and habitat. A highly participatory, 4-step process known as
Appreciative Participatory Planning and Action (APPA) provides the primary mechanism for
assisting communities to develop Action Plans to reduce livestock depredation losses, increase
household incomes, and strengthen environmental stewardship. Herders are informed about the
Snow Leopard Stewardship program and conditions for a successful outcome. The team, comprised
of local people, NGO staff, facilitators and government officials, first identifies the root causes for
depredation (Discovery). Under the next phase, Dreaming, participants envision how their village
might appear if depredation losses were reduced to acceptable levels, household incomes increased,
and snow leopards fully protected. This provides a good basis upon which to collaboratively devise
actions for addressing the community's concerns (Design). Delivery involves implementing actions
under the overall Action Plan, as well as specific measures that can be acted upon immediately. The
community is encouraged to use simple but realistic indicators for monitoring the project's
effectiveness.
In Lessons Learned to Date, we highlight the importance of providing meaningful community
involvement from inception through project implementation and monitoring. The use of _APPA
_greatly increases ownership, communal empowerment and self-reliance, and local people's
willingness to protect wildlife. The Snow Leopard Conservancy believes that the most effective
conservation actions will be contingent upon (1) establishing direct linkages with biodiversity
protection; (2) ensuring reciprocal co-financing and commensurate responsibility from the
community; (3) encouraging full participation from all stakeholders irrespective of their gender, age
or economic status; and (4) ensuring regular monitoring and evaluation under an agreed-to Action
Plan that sets forth the responsibilities, contributions and obligations of each partner.

Abstract: This document reports on the status, distribution and protected areas coverage for snow leopard across its range in Central Asia. It is intended to aid in updating the existing knowledge base of snow leopard status and distribution during the Snow Leopard Survival Strategy (SLSS) Workshop organized by the International Snow Leopard Trust (ISLT), and to be held in Seattle on May 21-25, 2002. The SLSS workshop provides an unique opportunity to solicit feedback from scientists,
conservation organizations, government agencies and knowledgeable experts in order to:
(1) Verify the accuracy of information presented in this document (much of which was published 5-10 years ago) and to identify data gaps, especially with respect to population size and protectedareas coverage for this species;
(2) Aid organizations in developing tightly targeting conservation actions by identifying critical snow leopard areas, parks and reserves, and by implication, the intervening linking corridors linking key protected areas;
(3) Serve as a catalyst for encouraging range-countries to conduct field surveys into snow leopard status and distribution, especially in those areas deemed the most important to the maintenance of a viable metapopulation across the 12 countries in which the species' occurs.

Abstract: Describes local hunting methods,economics of hunting and estimated impact on snow leopard populations. Comments on conservation measures taken by government of Nepal

Abstract: The endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia occurs in rugged, high-altitude regions of Central Asia. However, information on the status of this felid is limited in many areas. We conducted a pilot study to optimize molecular markers for the analysis of snow leopard scat samples and to examine the feasibility of using noninvasive genetic methods for monitoring this felid. We designed snow leopard-specific primers for seven microsatellite loci that amplified shorter segments and avoided flanking sequences shared with repetitive elements. By redesigning primers we maximized genotyping success and minimized genotyping errors. In addition, we tested a Y chromosome-marker for sex identification and designed a panel of mitochondrial DNA primers for examining genetic diversity of snow leopards using scat samples. We collected scats believed to be from snow leopards in three separate geographic regions including north-western India, central China and southern Mongolia. We observed snow leopard scats in all three sites despite only brief 2-day surveys in each area. There was a high rate of species misidentification in the field with up to 54% of snow leopard scats misidentified as red fox. The high rate of field misidentification suggests sign surveys incorporating scat likely overestimate snow leopard abundance. The highest ratio of snow leopard scats was observed in Ladakh (India) and South Gobi (Mongolia), where four and five snow leopards were detected, respectively. Our findings describe a species-specific molecular panel for analysis of snow leopard scats, and highlight the efficacy of noninvasive genetic surveys for monitoring snow leopards. These methods enable large-scale noninvasive studies that will provide information critical for conservation of snow leopards.

Abstract: Conservation and management of snow leopards (Uncia uncial) has largely relied on anecdotal evidence and presence-absence data due to their cryptic nature and the difficult terrain they inhabit. These methods generally lack the scientific rigor necessary to accurately estimate population size and monitor trends. We evaluated the use of photography in capture-mark-recapture (CMR) techniques for estimating snow leopard population abundance and density within Hemis National Park, Ladakh, India. We placed infrared camera traps along actively used travel paths, scent-sprayed rocks, and scrape sites within 16-30 kmý sampling grids in successive winters during January and March 2003-2004. We used head-on, oblique, and side-view camera configurations to obtain snow leopard photographs at varying body orientations. We calculated snow leopard abundance estimates using the program CAPTURE. We obtained a total of 66 and 49 snow leopard captures resulting in 8.91 and 5.63 individuals per 100 trap nights during 2003 and 2004, respectively. We identified snow leopards based on the distinct pelage patters located primarily on the forelimbs, flanks, and dorsal surface of the tail. Capture probabilities ranged from 0.33 to 0.67. Density estimates ranged from 8.49 (SE+0.22) individuals per 100 kmý in 2003 to 4.45 (SE+0.16) in 2004. We believe the density disparity between years is attributable to different trap density and placement rather than to an actual decline in population size. Our results suggest that photographic capture-mark-recapture sampling may be a useful tool for monitoring demographic patterns. However, we believe a larger sample size would be necessary for generating a statistically robust estimate of population density and abundance based on CMR models.