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Berger, J., Buuveibaatar, B., Mishra, C. (). Globalization of the Cashmere Market and the Decline of Large Mammals in Central Asia. Conservation Biology, 27(4), 679–689.
Abstract: As drivers of terrestrial ecosystems, humans have replaced large carnivores in most areas, and
human influence not only exerts striking ecological pressures on biodiversity at local scales but also has
indirect effects in distant corners of the world. We suggest that the multibillion dollar cashmere industry
creates economic motivations that link western fashion preferences for cashmere to land use in Central
Asia. This penchant for stylish clothing, in turn, encourages herders to increase livestock production which
affects persistence of over 6 endangered large mammals in these remote, arid ecosystems. We hypothesized
that global trade in cashmere has strong negative effects on native large mammals of deserts and grassland
where cashmere-producing goats are raised. We used time series data, ecological snapshots of the biomass
of native and domestic ungulates, and ecologically and behaviorally based fieldwork to test our hypothesis.
In Mongolia increases in domestic goat production were associated with a 3-fold increase in local profits for
herders coexisting with endangered saiga (Saiga tatarica). That increasing domestic grazing pressure carries
fitness consequences was inferred on the basis of an approximately 4-fold difference in juvenile recruitment among blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) in trans-Himalayan India. Across 7 study areas in Mongolia, India, and China’s Tibetan Plateau, native ungulate biomass is now <5% that of domestic species. Such trends suggest ecosystem degradation and decreased capacity for the persistence of native species, including at least 8 Asian endemic species: saiga, chiru (Pantholops hodgsoni), Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), khulan (Equus hemionus), kiang (E. kiang), takhi (E. przewalski), and wild yak (Bos mutus). Our results suggest striking yet indirect and unintended actions that link trophic-level effects to markets induced by the trade for cashmere.
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Mishra, C., Allen, P., McCarthy, T., Madhusudan, M. D., Agvaantserengiin, B., & Prins H. (2003). The role of incentive programs in conserving the snow leopard (Vol. 17).
Abstract: Pastoralists and their livestock share much of the habitat of the snow leopard (Uncia uncia) across south and central Asia. The levels of livestock predation by the snow leopard and other carnivores are high, and retaliatory killing by the herders is a direct threat to carnivore populations. Depletion of wild prey by poaching and competition from livestock also poses an indirect threat to the region's carnivores. Conservationists working in these underdeveloped areas that face serious economic damage from livestock losses have turned to incentive programs to motivate local communities to protect carnivores. We describe a pilot incentive program in India that aims to offset losses due to livestock predation and to enhance wild prey density by creating livestock-free areas on common land. We also describe how income generation from handicrafts in Mongolia is helping curtail poaching and retaliatory killing of snow leopards. However, initiatives to offset the costs of living with carnivores and to make conservation beneficial to affected people have thus far been small, isolated, and heavily subsidized. Making these initiatives more comprehensive, expanding their coverage, and internalizing their costs are future challenged for the conservation of large carnivores such as the snow leopard.
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