Abstract: The Trans-Himalaya is a vast biogeographic region in the cold and arid rain-shadow of
the Greater Himalaya and is spread over three Indian states. From the conservation
standpoint this region has several unique characteristics. Unlike most other
biogeographic regions of the country, it has wildlife, including large mammals, spread
over the entire region. Another feature is that the harsh climate and topography
provides limited agricultural land and pastures, all of which are currently utilized by
people. The harsh environment has given rise to a specialized assemblage of flora and fauna in
the region that include the endangered snow leopard, a variety of wild sheep and goat,
Tibetan antelope, Tibetan gazelle, kiang and wild yak. The snow leopard is one of the
most charismatic species of the Trans-Himalaya. This apex predator, with a wide
distribution, has ecological importance and international appeal, and is eminently
suitable to be used as both a 'flagship' and an 'umbrella species' to anchor and guide
conservation efforts in the Trans-Himalayan region. Among the 10 Biogeographic Zones in the country, the Trans-Himalaya has a
comparatively large Protected Area (PA) coverage, with over 15,000 km2 (8.2 %) of
the geographical area under the network. In spite of this, the bulk of the large mammal
populations still exist outside the PAs, which include highly endangered species such
as snow leopard, chiru, wild yak, Ladakh urial, kiang and brown bear. Given the sparse resource availability in the Trans-Himalaya and the existing human
use patterns, there are few alternatives that can be provided to resource dependent
human communities in and around PAs. The existing PAs themselves pose formidable
conservation challenges and a further increase in their extent is impractical. The
problem is further compounded by the fact that some of the large PAs have unclear
boundaries and include vast stretches that do not have any direct wildlife values. These
issues call for an alternative strategy for conservation of the Trans-Himalayan tracts
based on a regional perspective, which includes reconciling conservation with
development. In this paper we stress that conservation issues of this region, such as competition for
forage between wild and domestic herbivores and human-wildlife conflicts need to be
addressed in a participatory manner. We suggest an alternative scheme to look at the
zonation of existing PAs and also the Trans-Himalayan region as a whole, to facilitate
better conservation in the region. Also, we emphasize that there is a vital need for
additional resources and a formal setup for regional planning and management under a
centrally sponsored scheme such as the 'Project Snow Leopard'.

Abstract: From September to November 2004 we conducted surveys of snow leopard Uncia uncia signs in three major valleys in Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) National Park in Nepal using the Snow Leopard Information Management System, a standardized survey technique for snow leopard research. We walked 24 transects covering c. 14 km and located 33 sites with 56 snow leopard signs, and 17 signs incidentally in other areas. Snow leopards appear to have re-inhabited the Park, following their disappearance c. 40 years ago, apparently following the recovery of Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus and musk deer Moschus chrysogaster populations. Taken together the locations of all 73 recent snow leopard signs indicate that the species is using predominantly grazing land and shrubland/ open forest at elevations of 3,000-5,000 m, habitat types that are also used by domestic and wild ungulates. Sagarmatha is the homeland of c. 3,500 Buddhist Sherpas with .3,000 livestock. Along with tourism and associated developments in Sagarmatha, traditional land use practices could be used to ensure coexistence of livestock and wildlife, including the recovering snow leopards, and ensure the wellbeing of the Sherpas.