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Alexander, J. S., Cusack, J. J., Pengju, C, Kun, S., Riordan, P. (2015). Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? Oryx, (Fauna & Flora International), 1–5.
Abstract: In high-altitude settings of Central Asia the
Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia has been recognized
as a potential umbrella species. As a first step in assessing
the potential benefits of snow leopard conservation for
other carnivores, we sought a better understanding of the
presence of other carnivores in areas occupied by snow leopards
in China’s Qilianshan National Nature Reserve. We
used camera-trap and sign surveys to examine whether
other carnivores were using the same travel routes as snow
leopards at two spatial scales. We also considered temporal
interactions between species. Our results confirm that other
carnivores, including the red fox Vulpes vulpes, grey wolf
Canis lupus, Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and dhole Cuon alpinus,
occur along snow leopard travel routes, albeit with low detection
rates. Even at the smaller scale of our camera trap survey
all five carnivores (snow leopard, lynx, wolf, red fox and
dhole) were observed. Kernel density estimates suggested a
high degree of temporal overlap between the snow leopard
and the fox, and the snow leopard and the lynx, as indicated
by high overlap coefficient estimates. There is an opportunity
to consider protective measures at the local scale that would
benefit various species simultaneously. However, it should
also be recognized that snow leopard conservation efforts
could exacerbate human–wildlife conflicts through their protective
effect on other carnivore species.
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Shehzad, W. M. C., Thomas Michael. Pompanon, Francois. Purejav, Lkhagvajav. Coissac, Eric. Riaz, Tiayyba. Taberlet, Pierre. (2012). Prey Preference of Snow Leopard (Panthera Uncia) in South Gobi, Mongolia. PLoS ONE, (Feb 2012).
Abstract: Accurate information about the diet of large carnivores that are elusive and inhabit inaccessible terrain, is required to properly design conservation strategies. Predation on livestock and retaliatory killing of predators have become serious issues throughout the range of the snow leopard. These techniques have inherent limitation in their ability to properly identify both snow leopard feces and prey taxa, To examine the frequency of livestock prey and and nearly-threatened argali in the diet of the snow leopard, we employed the recently developed DNA-based diet approach to study a snow leopard population located in the Tost Mountains, South Gobi, Mongolia. After DNA was extracted from the feces, a region of ~100 bp long from mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene was amplified, making use of universal primers for vertebrates and a blocking oligonucleotide specific to snow leopard DNA. The amplicons were then sequenced using a next-generation sequencing platform. We observed a total of five different prey items from 81 fecal samples. Siberian ibex predominated the diet (in 70.4% of the feces), followed by domestic goat (17.3%) and argali sheep (8.6%). The major part of the diet was comprised of large ungulates (in 98.8% of the feces) including wild ungulates (79%) and domestic livestock (19.7%). The findings of the present study will help to understand the feeding ecology of the snow leopard, as well as to address the conservation and management issues pertaining to this wild cat.
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Fox, J. L. (1985). An Annotated Bibliography of Literature on the Snow Leopard.
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Bower, J. N. (1980). For some endangered species, captive breeding programs are their last chance for life. National Parks and Conservation Magazine, (June), 16–19.
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Schaller, G. B. (1975). A walk in the Hindu Kush. Animal Kingdom, (June/July), 8–19.
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Jackson, R. (1980). A radio-telemetry study of the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) in Nepal with emphasis on conservation and predator-prey relations.
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Sharma, K., McCarthy, T. (2011). Counting cats: toward a framework for evaluating snow leopard (Panthera uncia) conservation efforts.
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Sharma, R. K., Singh, R. (2021). Over 100 Years of Snow Leopard Research: A Spatially Explicit Review of the State of Knowledge in the Snow Leopard Range. (Vol. May 2021).
Abstract: Executive Summary: Evolved to live in some of the world’s highest and harshest habitats, the elusive and rare snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are undisputed icons of High Asia. Across their distributional range in Central and South Asia, the snow leopard’s habitat spans diverse landscapes, with livestock herding being the most dominant form of land use. As a result, areas inhabited by snow leopards and people often overlap, creating challenges as well as opportunities for their conservation. Snow leopard conservation has received increasing attention in the past two decades and global interest in protecting this unique high-mountain cat continues to rise. However, effective and efficient snow leopard conservation initiatives require multi-dimensional research and collaboration among a diverse array of actors. National governments in snow leopard range, for instance, have repeatedly pledged their support for the conservation of the animal and the breathtaking landscapes they inhabit. These landscapes house an array of unique high-altitude wildlife and provide homes and life-sustaining natural resources to hundreds of millions of people. The mountains of High Asia also form the headwaters of 20 major river basins, an important water source for 22 countries (Sindorf et al., 2014). More than 2 billion people live in these basins which overlap the snow leopard range. Given the growing interest in and commitment towards conservation of snow leopards and their habitats, it is crucial to examine the depth and breadth of knowledge currently available to inform conservation efforts and identify gaps in that knowledge. We reviewed over 100 years of published research on snow leopards to examine its temporal and spatial trends across an array of thematic areas. Snow leopard research intensified in the 1970s and studies on snow leopards have continued to increase exponentially since then. However, just four hotspots of snow leopard research (sites with continued multi-year research) have emerged, with less than 23% of the snow leopard range being researched. Nepal, India and China have conducted the most snow leopard research, followed by Mongolia and Pakistan. Our analysis revealed that snow leopard research was highly focussed on ecological research followed by studies on human-wildlife conflict. Most ecological studies focused on estimating the number and distribution of snow leopards and prey species. However, conservationists have surveyed less than 3% of the snow leopard range using rigorous and scientifically acceptable abundance estimation approaches. The lack of attention to the human dimensions of conservation was particularly stark, especially given that the majority of the snow leopard range is inhabited by local communities dependent on livestock herding. More importantly, very few studies evaluated the effectiveness of conservation actions. A lack of evidence demonstrating and quantifying the impacts of conservation interventions is a significant knowledge gap in snow leopard research. In this review, we identify and suggest the high-priority research necessary for effective conservation planning for snow leopards and their multiple-use habitat in High Asia.
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Thapa, K., Pradhan, N, M, B., Barker, J., Dhakal, M., Bhandari, A, R., Gurung, G, S., Rai, D, P., Thapa, G, J., Shrestha, S., Singh, G, R. (2013). High elevation record of a leopard cat in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, Nepal. Cat News, (No 58), 26–27.
Abstract: During a camera trapping survey in Khambachen valley of Kangchenjunga Conservation
Area KCA from 24 April to 26 May 2012 we camera trapped one leopard cat
Prionailurus bengalensis at an altitude of 4,474 meter. This is probably the highest
altitudinal record for the species in its range. Additionally, one melanistic leopard
Panthera pardus was captured at an altitude of 4,300 m, which is probably as well the
highest documented record in the country. Yet at this stage, no obvious reason can
explain these unusual high records for both species, thus more surveys are recommended
for this region.
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Sharma, K. M. C., Thomas. Johannson, Orjan. Ud Din, Jaffar. Bayarjargal, A. (2010). Snow Leopards and Telemetry: Experiences and Challenges. Telemetry in Wildlife Science, 13(No. 1), 1–5.
Abstract: The snow leopard Panthera uncia is one of the least studied felids in the world. Little is know about various aspects of the ecology of the snow leopard, which is cryptic in nature and found across 12 countries in Central Asia. Most research on snow leopards has been based on non-invasive methods such as sign surveys for presence (e.g. Jackson and Hunter 1996), scat analyses for diet (e.g. Chundawat and Rawat 1992; Oli et al., 2008, 2010) for population estimation, and studies based on human interviews (Mehta and Heinen 2001; Mishra and Bagchi 2006).
Despite this plethora of studies employing non-invasive techniques, several crucial questions about snow leopard ecology remain unanswered. Information about the animal’s home range, dispersal, corridors, pattern of habitat use, movement patterns, hunting frequency, behavior and intra – specific interactions is not available yet. In order to design population monitoring studies using camera traps or DNA analyses, one needs a good understanding of snow leopard ecology, including the home range and movement patterns (Williams et al., 2002). Telemetry is still the best available method and perhaps much less invasive than direct observations for studying the biology and ecology of cryptic animals.
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