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Filla, M., Lama, R. P., Filla, T., Heurich, M., Balkenhol, N., Waltert, M., Khorozyan, I. (2022). Patterns of livestock depredation by snow leopards and effects of intervention strategies: lessons from the Nepalese Himalaya. Wildlife Research, .
Abstract: Context: Large carnivores are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities, and their protection is among the main goals of biodiversity conservation. The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits high-mountain landscapes where livestock depredation drives it into conflicts with local people and poses an obstacle for its conservation.
Aims: The aim of this study was to identify the livestock groups most vulnerable to depredation, target them in implementation of practical interventions, and assess the effectiveness of intervention strategies for conflict mitigation. We present a novel attempt to evaluate intervention strategies for particularly vulnerable species, age groups, time, and seasons.
Methods: In 2020, we conducted questionnaire surveys in two regions of the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal (Manang, n = 146 respondents and Upper Mustang, n = 183). We applied sample comparison testing, Jacobs’ selectivity index, and generalised linear models (GLMs) to assess rates and spatio-temporal heterogeneity of depredation, reveal vulnerable livestock groups, analyse potential effects of applied intervention strategies, and identify husbandry factors relevant to depredation.
Key results: Snow leopard predation was a major cause of livestock mortality in both regions (25.4–39.8%), resulting in an estimated annual loss of 3.2–3.6% of all livestock. The main intervention strategies (e.g. corrals during night-time and herding during daytime) were applied inconsistently and not associated with decreases in reported livestock losses. In contrast, we found some evidence that dogs, deterrents (light, music playing, flapping tape, and dung burning), and the use of multiple interventions were associated with a reduction in reported night-time depredation of yaks.
Conclusions and implications: We suggest conducting controlled randomised experiments for quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of dogs, deterrents, and the use of multiple interventions, and widely applying the most effective ones in local communities. This would benefit the long-term co-existence of snow leopards and humans in the Annapurna region and beyond.
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Alexander, J. S., Bijoor, A., Gurmet, K., Murali, R., Mishra, C., Suryawanshi, K. R. (2022). Engaging women brings conservation benefits to snow leopard landscapes. Environmental Conservation, , 1–7.
Abstract: Protection of biodiversity requires inclusive and gender-responsive programming. Evidence of success in engaging women in large carnivore conservation remains scarce, however, although women play an important role in caring for livestock at risk of predation and could contribute to large-carnivore conservation. We aimed to assess the performance of an income-generation and skills-building programme for women in Spiti Valley (India) that sought to engage women in local conservation action. Annual programme monitoring together with a one-time survey of attitudes, perceptions and social norms in eight communities exposed to the conservation programme and seven ‘control’ communities revealed: a keen interest and increasing levels of women’s participation over 7 years of programme operation; participant reports of multiple programme benefits including additional personal income, social networking and travel opportunities; and more positive attitudes towards snow leopards among programme participants than among non-participants in the control communities. Women from programme communities recorded in their diaries 33 self-directed conservation actions including improving livestock protection and preventing wildlife poaching. These results show a way forward to purposively engage women in conservation programming towards achieving sustainable and equitable outcomes in efforts to promote carnivore–human coexistence.
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Locke-Jones, J. (2022). Wildlife Conservation in the Digital Age. https://impact.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/wildlife-conservation-in-the-digital-age/. Retrieved September 27, 2024, from https://impact.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/wildlife-conservation-in-the-digital-age/
Abstract: Our understanding of the state of the world’s wildlife is dependent upon data. Without an accurate survey of species populations, our efforts to improve their chances of survival and to limit our impact on their wellbeing will always be limited. Unfortunately, many endangered species live in areas inhospitable to us – and in any case, a human-led survey can only continue for so long before the surveyors need to rest.
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Singh, S. K., De, R., Sharma, R., Maheshwari, A., Joshi, B. D., Sharma, D., Sathyakumar, S., Habib, B., Goyal, S. P. (2022). Conservation importance of the strategic, centrally located snow leopard population in the western Himalayas, India: a genetic perspective. Mammalian Biology, , 13.
Abstract: The snow leopard population in Union Territory of Ladakh (UTL), India is at the centre of five out of eight mountain ranges within the species' habitat in the high-mountain Asia. Its strategic location is of immense conservation significance to maintain genetic connectivity and metapopulation dynamics of snow leopards (Panthera uncia). Therefore, we provide the first estimates of the snow leopard's individual-based spatial genetic characteristics from UTL. Multi-locus genotyping (n = 14 loci) of individuals (n = 19) revealed moderate genetic diversity in the population (mean number of alleles = 5.86 ± 0.55, observed heterozygosity = 0.48 ± 0.05, expected heterozygosity = 0.65 ± 0.03, allelic richness = 2.65 ± 0.15). We did not observe any evidence of population structuring (using STRUCTURE and Factorial Correspondence Analysis) or isolation by distance. However, the clustering approach based on genetic distance (Nei's standard distance and Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards distance) and subsequent discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) revealed three sub-clusters of related individuals within the study population without any spatial correlates. We observed 1.2% first-order relatives, suggesting sufficient dispersal and panmixia in the UTL population. We observed high fixation index (FIS = 0.26 ± 0.05; 0.17 ± 0.03 upon removing loci with null alleles) and presence of individuals from genetically divergent populations in UTL. Hence, the high positive FIS value could be attributed to both Wahlund effect and inbreeding. Prioritization and effective conservation planning of the UTL population as a source would benefit the global snow leopard population by (i) maintaining connectivity between the Himalayas and the central Asian mountain ranges, and (ii) providing refuge during future climate change-related range contraction.
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Hanson, J. H., Schutgens, M., Baral, N., Leader-Williams, N. (2022). Assessing the potential of snow leopard tourism-related products and services in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Tourism Planning & Development, , 1–20.
Abstract: Conservation Enterprise is increasingly promoted to support the conservation of species and landscapes through incentives, such as ecotourism, including in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), Nepal. Yet the elusive behaviour of snow leopards here limits opportunities for conservation enterprise, particularly those linked to conventional ecotourism forms. Furthermore, the potential to explicitly link local snow leopard-friendly livestock production systems with the tourist market in the area, via eco-certified livestock products, has not been investigated. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the interest, from supply and demand perspectives, in introducing snow leopard ecotourism services and eco-certified products into the ACA tourist market. Questionnaire data were gathered from 406 tourists and 403 local residents. Our results, of interest to managers and researchers alike, show that there is potential to generate funds and support for both snow leopard conservation and community development, and add to the literature on utilising enterprise initiatives as conservation tools.
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Kachel, S. M. (2021). Large Carnivore Ecology and Conservation in the High Mountains of Central Asia. Ph.D. thesis, , .
Abstract: Predators shape their ecosystems through myriad interactions with prey, other predators, and humans. However, the effects of these interactions may be contingent on multiple contextual factors, hindering prediction in any given community and impeding a general understanding of the ecological effects of predators. Despite their prominence as conservation flagship in the mountains of Central Asia, even basic aspects of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) ecology remain underexplored and poorly understood. The ecology of wolves (Canis lupus), sympatric with snow leopards throughout that species’ range, has been even more neglected in the region, notwithstanding the significant impact of livestock depredation on pastoralist communities. This dissertation examines the interactions underlying the coexistence of wolves and snow leopards, including those with humans and their joint effects on prey, with the broader goal of improving our understanding of the context-dependence of the non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators. In Chapter 2, I explore the patterns of spatial, temporal, and dietary niche overlap between wolves and snow leopards in the Eastern Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan. I show that in
light of dietary and temporal overlap, the two predators’ coexistence may depend on strong spatial partitioning. In Chapter 3, I explore the consequences of this spatial partitioning by investigating how shared prey with distinct escape tactics, ibex (Capra sibirica) and argali (Ovis ammon), navigate the tradeoffs posed by the two predators in the Central Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Each ungulate responded to each predator in a manner that was predictable based on the compatibility of their respective evasion and hunting-mode traits, suggesting that non- consumptive predator effects depend not on predator hunting mode or prey escape tactics, but rather on their interaction. Furthermore, short-term predation risk may upend each ungulates’ long-term risk avoidance strategy, suggesting that emergent effects of multiple predators may have important consequences in this system. In Chapter 4, I develop a novel approach to investigate large-scale patterns of livestock depredation risk and occurrence for wolves and snow leopards, but also lynx (Lynx lynx) and bears (Ursus arctos), in the Western Pamirs of Tajikistan. Livestock depredation was commonplace, with most communities exposed to multiple predators, highlighting that conservation efforts meant to reduce conflict between people and carnivores should aim to reduce depredation as it is experienced by human communities – a threat from the entire carnivore guild. Overall, my results suggest that single-species approaches to conservation in the mountains of Central Asia may be inadequate for ecosystems and people. This dissertation advances the cause of conservation in Central Asia by providing an empirical perspective on how snow leopards and wolves coexist and shape their ecosystems, and by providing practical insight into the challenge of livestock depredation and conflict, a primary threat to wolves and snow leopards in the region. By showing that the non-consumptive effects of predators cannot be predicted based solely on prey escape tactics or predator hunting mode alone, it also contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of predators in shaping ecosystems.
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Kachel, S., Bayrakcismith, R., Kubanychbekov, Z., Kulenbekov, R., McCarthy, T., Weckworth, B., Wirsing, A. (2022). Ungulate spatiotemporal responses to contrasting predation risk from wolves and snow leopards. Journal of Animal Ecology, , 1–16.
Abstract: 1. Spatial responses to risk from multiple predators can precipitate emergent consequences for prey (i.e. multiple-predator effects, MPEs) and mediate indirect interactions between predators. How prey navigate risk from multiple predators may therefore have important ramifications for understanding the propagation of predation-risk effects (PREs) through ecosystems.
2. The interaction of predator and prey traits has emerged as a potentially key driver of antipredator behaviour but remains underexplored in large vertebrate systems, particularly where sympatric prey share multiple predators. We sought to better generalize our understanding of how predators influence their ecosystems by considering how multiple sources of contingency drive prey distribution in a multi-predator–multi-prey system.
3. Specifically, we explored how two sympatric ungulates with different escape tactics—vertically agile, scrambling ibex Capra sibirica and sprinting argali Ovis ammon—responded to predation risk from shared predators with contrasting hunting modes—cursorial wolves Canis lupus and vertical-ambushing, stalking snow leopards Panthera uncia.
4. Contrasting risk posed by the two predators presented prey with clear trade-offs. Ibex selected for greater exposure to chronic long-term risk from snow leopards, and argali for wolves, in a nearly symmetrical manner that was predictable based on the compatibility of their respective traits. Yet, acute short-term risk from the same predator upended these long-term strategies, increasing each ungulates' exposure to risk from the alternate predator in a manner consistent with a scenario in which conflicting antipredator behaviours precipitate risk-enhancing MPEs and mediate predator facilitation. By contrast, reactive responses to wolves led ibex to reduce their exposure to risk from both predators—a risk-reducing MPE. Evidence of a similar reactive risk-reducing effect for argali vis-à-vis snow leopards was lacking.
5. Our results suggest that prey spatial responses and any resulting MPEs and prey-mediated interactions between predators are contingent on the interplay of hunting mode and escape tactics. Further investigation of interactions among various drivers of contingency in PREs will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding and improved forecasting of the ecological effects of predators.
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Moheb, Z., Rajabi, A. M., Jahed, N., Ostrowski, S., Zahler, P. I., Fuller, T. K. (2022). Using double-observer surveys to monitor urial and ibex populations in the Hindu Kush of Wakhan National Park, Afghanistan. Oryx, , 1–7.
Abstract: We surveyed the urial Ovis vignei and Siberian ibex Capra sibirica in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Wakhan National Park in north-eastern Afghanistan to determine their population status and identify potential drivers of population change. We conducted two double- observer ground surveys, in April–May 2015 and 2018, in 10 areas (total = 288 km2). Urial herds were mostly com- posed of both sexes (78% of observed herds), the mean adult sex ratio (females:males) was 100:70, and the mean female:juvenile ratio was 100:53. In 2018 we calculated a urial density of 35/100 km2, compared to 72/100 km2 in 2015. Ibex herds were mostly (79%) composed of both sexes, the mean adult sex ratio (females:males) was 100:103, and the mean female:juvenile ratio was 100:58. Ibex density estimates were similar in 2015 and 2018 (c. 250/100 km2). We discuss the usefulness of the double-observer methods for ungulate surveys, highlight the value of viewshed calculations and discuss the possible causes of urial population decline. To ensure the conservation of these ungulate populations, we recommend continued regular monitoring, measures to address poaching and research to clarify the taxonomical status of urials in Wakhan.
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Moheb, Z., Fuller, T. K., Zahler, P. I. (2022). Snow Leopard – human conflict as a conservation challenge – a review. Snow Leopard Reports, 1, 11–24.
Abstract: Human conflict with large carnivores continues to be a great conservation challenge, and conflict with snow leopards (Panthera uncia) has been studied to understand causes and propose mitigation schemes. While the nature of snow leopard-human conflict is similar in most cases, reported studies have been case- and area-specific with mitigation strategies not necessarily based on a synthesis of relevant literature. We reviewed snow leopard literature published from 1970-2020 to identify the main drivers of human-snow leopard conflict (HSLC) and describe conservation and conflict mitigation strategies commonly employed. Based on 47 relevant peer-reviewed articles, review papers, book chapters, project reports, and other grey literature, we identified four major conflict domains: livestock management-related, socio-economic/human-related, ecological, and policy-related. Most articles suggested more than one conflict mitigation scheme. Three conflict mitigation domains – preventive, supportive, and compensatory – were widely reflected in the snow leopard-human conflict literature. The most commonly reported mitigation schemes included: 1) building or predator-proofing corrals; 2) training shepherds and improving livestock guarding; 3) livestock insurance schemes; 4) compensation for livestock predation; 5) capacity building, education, and awareness programs; and 6) improved breeding and use of guard dogs. Future management efforts need to tailor their approach depending on cultural, economic, and ecological circumstances.
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Moqanaki, E., Samelius, G. Monitoring the Manul – guidelines for practitioners. The Pallas’s cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA), , 1–188.
Abstract: Foreword: Field monitoring of wild animal species is rarely accomplished without challenges. Logistical, environmental, and ecological factors dictate the need for appropriate sampling regardless of location, taxa, or objectives. With regards to felids there is no questioning their popularity when it comes to field research. Their role and impact on the ecosystems combined with their “hypercarnivore” lifestyle and cultural significance have resulted in an extensive and historical resume of field studies across the globe. Despite the vast number of studies on felids, there is a significant skew toward the big cats with the scientific knowledge base for small-bodied cat species, including the Pallas’s cat or manul (Otocolobus manul), much smaller. Given the solitary and elusive nature of most small cats, like the manul, that inhabit remote environments, it is not difficult to understand this gap in field research.
Recognising this gap and following years of field research and conservation, the Pallas’s cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA) and their conservation partners identified the need for targeted and easy to follow guidance on best practices for monitoring the manul in the wild. This guide details an extensive compilation of data collection methods and monitoring techniques for the manul that will help practitioners deliver more effective conservation and research efforts.
This guide was edited by Ehsan Moqanaki and Gustaf Samelius that, in close collaboration with a number of co-authors, have brought together a wealth of knowledge on surveying and monitoring manul populations. Each chapter compiles tried and tested techniques from a range of carnivore research projects over the last few decades, with a focus on the manul. In doing so this guide provides a detailed insight into the most effective data collection methods to enhance future conservation and research efforts for the species. We are grateful to all involved in the development of this book and hope that it serves as a valuable practical guide to current and future conservation and researcher efforts, while contributing to long-term conservation actions for this amazing small cat.
The Pallas’s cat International Conservation Alliance
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