Abstract: Conservation conflict over livestock depredation is one of the
key drivers of large mammalian carnivore declines worldwide. Mitigating
this conflict requires strategies informed by reliable knowledge of
factors influencing livestock depredation. Wild prey and livestock
abundance are critical factors influencing the extent of livestock
depredation. We compared whether the extent of livestock predation by
snow leopards Panthera uncia differed in relation to densities of wild
prey, livestock, and snow leopards at two sites in Shey Phoksundo
National Park, Nepal. We used camera trap-based spatially explicit
capture–recapture models to estimate snow leopard density;
double-observer surveys to estimate the density of their main prey
species, the blue sheep Pseudois nayaur; and interview-based household
surveys to estimate livestock population and number of livestock killed
by snow leopards. The proportion of livestock lost per household was
seven times higher in Upper Dolpa, the site which had higher snow
leopard density (2.51 snow leopards per 100 km2) and higher livestock
density (17.21 livestock per km2) compared to Lower Dolpa (1.21 snow
leopards per 100 km2; 4.5 livestock per km2). The wild prey density was
similar across the two sites (1.81 and 1.57 animals per km2 in Upper and
Lower Dolpa, respectively). Our results suggest that livestock
depredation level may largely be determined by the abundances of the
snow leopards and livestock and predation levels on livestock can vary
even at similar levels of wild prey density. In large parts of the snow
leopard range, livestock production is indispensable to local
livelihoods and livestock population is expected to increase to meet the
demand of cashmere. Hence, we recommend that any efforts to increase
livestock populations or conservation initiatives aimed at recovering or
increasing snow leopard population be accompanied by better herding
practices (e.g., predator-proof corrals) to protect livestock from snow
leopard.

Abstract: The loss of livestock to wild predators is an important livelihood concern among Trans-Himalayan pastoralists. Because of the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region, few studies have been carried out to quantify livestock depredation by wild predators. In the present study, we assessed the intensity of livestock depredation by snow leopard Uncia uncia, Tibetan wolf Canis lupus chanku, and Eurasian lynx Lynx l. isabellina in three villages, namely Gya, Rumtse, and Sasoma, within the proposed Gya-Miru Wildlife Sanctuary in Ladakh, India. The three villages reported losses of 295 animals to these carnivores during a period of 2.5 years ending in early 2003, which represents an annual loss rate of 2.9% of their livestock holdings. The Tibetan wolf was the most important predator, accounting for 60% of the total livestock loss because of predation, followed by snow leopard (38%) and lynx (2%). Domestic goat was the major victim (32%), followed by sheep (30%), yak (15%), and horse (13%). Wolves killed horses significantly more and goats less than would be expected from their relative abundance. Snow leopards also killed horses significantly more than expected, whereas they killed other livestock types in proportion to their abundance. The three villages combined incurred an estimated annual monetary loss of approximately $USD 12,120 amounting to approximately $USD 190/household/y. This relatively high total annual loss occurred primarily because of depredation of the most valuable livestock types such as yak and horse. Conservation actions should initially attempt to target decrease of predation on these large and valuable livestock species.

Abstract: The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits the high, remote mountains of Pakistan from where very little information is available on prey use of this species. Our study describes the food habits of the snow leopard in the Himalayas and Karakoram mountain ranges in Baltistan, Pakistan. Ninety-five putrid snow leopard scats were collected from four sites in Baltistan. Of these, 49 scats were genetically confirmed to have originated from snow leopards. The consumed prey was identified on the basis of morphological characteristics of hairs recovered from the scats. It was found that most of the biomass consumed (70%) was due to domestic livestock viz. sheep (23%), goat (16%), cattle (10%), yak (7%), and cattle–yak hybrids (14%). Only 30% of the biomass was due to wild species, namely Siberian ibex (21%), markhor (7%), and birds (2%). Heavy predation on domestic livestock appeared to be the likely cause of conflict with the local inhabitants. Conservation initiatives should focus on mitigating this conflict by minimizing livestock losses.

Abstract: Livestock depredation by large carnivores is a significant source of conflicts over predators and an important conservation and economic concern. Preventing livestock loss to wild predators is a substantial focus of human-carnivore conflict mitigation programs. A key assumption of the preventive strategy is reduction in the livestock losses leading to a positive shift in the attitudes toward predators. Therefore, it is important to quantify the true extent of livestock mortality caused by wild predators and its influence on attitudes of the affected communities. We examined seasonal and spatial patterns of livestock mortality and factors influencing people’s attitudes toward wild predators i.e., snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis lupus chanco) and free-ranging dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in a Trans-Himalayan urbanizing landscape in India. We used systematic sampling to select the survey households and implemented a semi- structured questionnaire to respondents. The sampled villages (n = 16) represent a mosaic of urban and agricultural ecosystems within a radius of 40 km of Leh town. In 2016–2017, 93% of the sampled households lost livestock to predators, accounting for 0.93 animals per household per year. However, of the total events of livestock mortality, 33% were because of weather/natural events, 24% by snow leopards, 20% because of disease, 15% because of free-ranging dogs and 9% because of wolves. The annual economic loss per household because of livestock mortality was USD 371, a substantial loss given the average per capita income of USD 270 in the region. Of the total loss, weather/natural events caused highest loss of USD 131 (35%), followed by snow leopards USD 91 (25%), disease USD 87 (24%), free ranging dogs USD 48 (13%), and wolves USD 14 (4%). Despite losing a considerable proportion of livestock (33 %) to wild predators, respondents showed a positive attitude toward them but exhibited neutral attitudes toward free-ranging dogs. Gender emerged as the most important determinant of attitudes toward wild predators, with men showing higher positive attitude score toward wild predators than women. Our findings highlight the context specific variation in human-wildlife interactions and emphasize that generalizations must be avoided in the absence of site specific evidence.

Abstract: Livestock depredation is an important source of conflict for many terrestrial large carnivore
species. Understanding the foraging behavior of large carnivores on domestic prey is therefore
important for both mitigating conflict and conserving threatened carnivore populations. Handling
time is an important, albeit often overlooked, component of predatory behavior, as it directly
influences access to food biomass, which can affect predator foraging efficiency and subsequent
kill rates. We used long-term data on snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in Mongolia (Asia) and
Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Norway (Europe) to examine how large carnivore foraging patterns
varied between domestic and wild prey, and how the different landscape characteristics affected
those patterns. Our results suggest handling time was generally shorter for domestic compared to
wild prey. For snow leopards, rugged terrain was linked to increased handling time for larger
prey. For lynx, handling time increased with terrain ruggedness for domestic, but not wild, prey,
and was greater in closed compared to open habitats. There were also other differences in snow
leopard and lynx foraging behavior, e.g., snow leopards also stayed longer at, and remained closer
to, their kill sites than lynx. Shorter handling time suggests that felids may have utilized domestic
prey less effectively than wild prey, i.e., they spent less time consuming their prey. This could a)
result in an energetic or fitness cost related to decreased felid foraging efficiency caused by the
risk of anthropogenic disturbance, or b) exacerbate conflict if reduced handling time associated
with easy prey results in increased livestock depredation.

Abstract: When large carnivores cause socioeconomic losses in a community, conflict increases,
retaliatory killing of the carnivore can occur, and conservation efforts are undermined.
We focused on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and economic compensation
schemes as approaches for managing conflict. PRA is a tool for collecting data on
the large carnivore–human conflict and economic compensation schemes for those
affected negatively by carnivore presence. We reviewed published papers and reports
on large carnivore–human conflicts, PRA, and compensation schemes. This article
details insights into common pitfalls, key lessons learned, possible solutions including
new approaches for compensation and protocols to be followed while managing large
carnivore–human conflict. We hope to contribute to a meaningful dialogue between
locals, managers, and researchers and help in effective implementation of conservation
programs to mitigate large carnivore–human conflict around the protected areas.

Abstract: Reports on 1 summer survey and four winter surveys covering some 3100 km in Ladakh, India. Reports on snow leopard sign commonly found, distribution, prey, attacks on livestock and peoples reaction, mortality factors and conservation status. Suggest recomendations for preventing unnecessary killing of snow leopards and estimates population of 100 to 200 snow leopards in Ladakh

Abstract: The author studied livestock killed by predators in the Spiti Valley, India, to determine what species had killed yaks, horses, donkeys, and other domestic animals. Eleven of the kills examined were made by snow leopards and six by the Tibetan wolf. Wolves were involved in surplus killings, while snow leopards kill as food is needed. lgh

Abstract: 1. Conservation policy for the high mountains of Asia increasingly recognises the need to encompass large multi-use landscapes beyond the protected area network. Due to limited long-term research in this region, our understanding of even fundamental processes, such as factors regulating large mammal populations is poor.
2. Understanding the factors that regulate animal populations, especially those generating cyclicity, is a long-standing problem in ecology. Long-term research across multiple taxa (mainly from Europe and North America) has focussed on the relative roles of food and predation in generating cyclicity in population dynamics. It remains unclear how trophic interactions that are influenced by anthropogenic stressors can affect population dynamics in human-modified landscapes.
3. We present a 10-year study to compare the effects of livestock grazing on density-dependent dynamics in two populations of bharal, Pseudois nayaur, in the Himalayas. We combine this with a mechanistic understanding of whether density dependence in these two sites acts predominantly by affecting adult survival or recruitment. We compared and quantified density dependence in the bharal population by fitting Bayesian Gompertz state-space models.
4. We found evidence for negative density dependence which indicates possible cyclic dynamics in the bharal population of the site (Tabo) with low livestock density. The population dynamics of this site were driven by recruited offspring—with a 2-year density-dependent lag effect—rather than adult survival. In the site with high livestock density (Kibber), this density dependence was not detected. We postulate the potential role of excessive grazing by livestock in affecting offspring recruitment, thereby affecting the bharal population in Kibber.
5. Synthesis and applications: Our results suggest that conservation action to facilitate wild herbivore population recovery, such as the development of protected areas and village reserves, needs to account for density-dependent regulation. Sites with trophy hunting require continuous monitoring to understand the effects of density dependence so that appropriate hunting quotas can be formulated.

Abstract: We conducted surveys above 3000 m elevation in eight protected areas of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. These surveys provide new information on snow leopard in Uttarakhand on the basis of indirect evidence such as pugmark and scat. Snow leopard evidence (n = 13) were found between 3190 and 4115 m elevation. On an average, scats (n = 09) of snow leopard were found for every 56 km walked and pugmarks (n = 04) for every 126 km walked. Altogether, about 39% of the evidence were found on the hill-slope followed by valley floor (30%), cliff (15%) and 8% from both stream bed and scree slope. Genetic analysis of the scats identified three different individuals by using snow leopard specific primers. Snow leopard-human conflicts were assessed through questionnaire based interviews of shepherds from Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve areas of Uttarakhand. Surveys revealed that livestock depredation (mule, goat and sheep) is the only cause of snow leopard-human conflicts and contributed 36% of the diet of snow leopard. Blue sheep and rodents together comprised 36.4% of the total diet. We found that 68.1% of the surveyed area was used for pastoral activities in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and 12.3% area was under tourism, defence and developmental activities.

Abstract: I studied snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) in Manang District, Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal, to estimate numbers and analyze predator-prey interactions. Five to seven adult leopards used the 10-5-km-2 study area, a density of 4.8 to 6.7 leopards/100 km-2. Density of blue sheep was 6.6 10.2 sheep/km-2, and biomass density was 304 kg/km-2. Estimated relative biomass consumed by snow leopards suggested that blue sheep were the most important prey; marmots (Marmota himalayana) also contributed significantly to the diel of snow leopards Snow leopards in Manang were estimated to harvest 9-20% of total biomass and 11-24% of total number of blue sheep annually. Snow leopard: blue sheep ratio was 1:114-1:159 on a weight basis, which was considered sustainable given the importance of small mammals in the leopard's diet and the absence of other competing predators.

Abstract: Understanding the dietary habits of sympatric apex carnivores advances our knowledge of ecological processes and aids their conservation. We compared the diets of the sympatric Snow Leopard Panthera uncia and Grey Wolf Canis lupus using standard micro-histological analyses of scats collected from the western complex of Nepal Himalaya. Our study revealed one of the highest recorded contributions of livestock to the diet of top predators (55% for Grey Wolf and 39% for Snow Leopard) and high dietary overlap (0.82) indicating potential exploitative or interference competition. Their diet composition, however, varied significantly based on their consumption of wild and domestic prey. Limitation in data precludes predicting direction and outcome of inter-specific interactions between these predators. Our findings suggest a high rate of negative interaction with humans in the region and plausibly retaliatory killings of these imperilled predators. To ensure the sustained survival of these two apex carnivores, conservation measures should enhance populations of their wild prey species while reducing livestock losses of the local community through preventive and mitigative interventions.