Abstract: Brief review of physical characteristics, (skull illustration) ecology and distribution

Abstract: On 14 May 1983, two female snow leopard (Panthera uncia) cubs were born in the Kansas City Zoological Gardens to a primiparous female. The female showed little interest in the cubs, one of which had a body temperature of 30 C, so they were removed for hand-rearing. On 15 May, one cub was less active, and did not nurse as well as its littermate.

Abstract: Modified live feline panleukopenia virus (FPLV) vaccine protected dogs against canine parvovirus (CPV) infection. However, unlike the long- lived (greater than or equal to 20-month) immunity engendered by CPV infection, the response of dogs to living FPLV was variable. Doses of FPLV (snow leopard strain) in excess of 10(5.7) TCID50 were necessary for uniform immunization; smaller inocula resulted in decreased success rates. The duration of immunity, as measured by the persistence of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody, was related to the magnitude of the initial response to vaccination; dogs with vigorous initial responses resisted oronasal CPV challenge exposure 6 months after vaccination, and hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies persisted in such dogs for greater than 1 year. Limited replication of FPLV in dogs was demonstrated, but unlike CPV, the feline virus did not spread to contact dogs or cats. Adverse reactions were not associated with living FPLV vaccination, and FPLV did not interfere with simultaneous response to attenuated canine distemper virus.

Abstract: The Ladakh urial (Ovis vignei vignei) is a highly endangered animal (IUCN Red List 2000) listed in the Appendix 1 of CITES and Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Its numbers had been reduced to a few hundred individuals in the 1960s and 70s through hunting for trophies and meat (Fox et al. 1991, Mallon 1983, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, IUCN Red List 2000). However, with the protection bestowed by the IWPA 1972, and resultant decrease in hunting, the population seems to have shown a marginal increase to about 1000-1500 individuals in its range in Ladakh (Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, IUCN Red List 2000). Although the species had in the past, been able to coexist with the predominantly Buddhist society of Ladakh, the recent increase in the population of both humans and their livestock has placed immense pressures on its habitat (Shackleton 1997, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2003). This is especially important considering that the Ladakh urial habitat coincides with the areas of maximum human activity in terms of settlements, agriculture, pastoralism and development, in Ladakh (Fox et al. 1991, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2003). Increased developmental activities such as construction of roads, dams, and military bases in these areas have also increased the access to their habitat. This has consequently made the species more vulnerable to the threats of poaching and habitat destruction (Fox et al. 1991, Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2002). Pressure from increased livestock grazing is one of the major threats faced by the species today (Shackleton 1997, Fox et al. 1991, Mallon 1983, IUCN Red List 2000 Chundawat and Qureshi 1999, Raghavan and Bhatnagar 2003). In the impoverished habitat provided by the Trans-Himalayas, there is great competition for the scarce resources between various animal species surviving here (Fox 1996, Mishra 2001). The presence of livestock intensifies this competition and can either force the species out of its niche (competitive exclusion) by displacing it from that area or resource, or lead to partitioning of resources between the species, spatially or temporally, for coexistence (Begon et al. 1986, Gause 1934).