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Fix, A. S., Riordan, D. P., Hill, H. T., Gill, M. A., & Evans, M. B. (1989). Feline panleukopena virus and subsequent canine-distemper virus infection in two snow leopards (Panthera uncia). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 20(3), 273–281.
Abstract: Two adult snow leopards (Panthera uncia), male and female, both with vaccinations current, became infected with feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) at the Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines, Iowa, in late 1988. Clinical signs included weakness, hemorrhagic feces, fever, seizures, and nasal discharge. Blood analysis revealed severe lymphopenia and mild anemia. A positive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test for FPV on fecal contents from the male leopard confirmed the diagnosis. In spite of intensive therapy, both animals died. Necropsy of the female, which survived for 1 wk after onset of signs, revealed intestinal crypt necrosis, pulmonary consolidation, necrotizing laryngitis, and diffuse lymphoid depletion. The male leopard, which lived 3 wk after onset of illness, had similar enteric and lymphoid lesions. In addition, there was a severe interstitial pneumonia, with syncytial cells containing eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies. Ultrastructural characteristics of these inclusions featured tubular structures consistent with a paramyxovirus. Although repeated virus isolation attempts from the affected lung were negative, polyclonal and monoclonal fluorescent antibody tests were strongly positive for canine distemper virus (CDV). Frozen paired sera from each leopard demonstrated very high acute and convalescing titers to FPV; both animals also seroconverted to CDV, with titers in the male leopard higher than those in the female. Additional tests for toxoplasmosis, feline infectious peritonitis, feline rhinotracheitis, feline calicivirus, feline leukemia, canine parainfluenza, and bovine respiratory syncytial virus were all negative. The neurologic signs present in these leopards remained unexplained, but may have been attributable to CDV infection. A feral cat trapped on zoo property had feces positive for FPV by ELISA. Although the specific contributions of FPV and CDV toward the development of this case are unknown, it is likely that initial FPV-induced immunosuppression allowed the subsequent development of CDV in these snow leopards. The likelihood that initial FPV infection came from feral cats underscores the importance of feral animal control on zoo premises.
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Rothschild, B. M., Rothschild, C., & Woods, R. J. (1998). Inflammatory arthritis in large cats: An expanded spectrum of spondyloarthropathy. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 29(3), 279–284.
Abstract: Spondyloarthropathy was documented for the first time in 14 (3.7%) of 386 large cats, affecting eight species belonging to three genera. The limited distribution of joint erosions, associated with spine and sacroiliac joint pathology, was indistinguishable from that occurring in humans with spondyloarthropathy of the reactive type. This form of inflammatory arthritis is almost twice as common as osteoarthritis (for felids as a whole), and animal well-being may be enhanced by its recognition and by initiation of specific treatment.
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Mishra, C., & Bagchi, S. (2006). Living with large carnivores: predation on livestock by the snow leopard (Uncia uncia). Journal of Zoology, , 1–8.
Abstract: Livestock predation by large carnivores and their retaliatory persecution by pastoralists are worldwide conservation concerns. Poor understanding of the ecological and social underpinnings of this human-wildlife conflict hampers effective conflict management programs. The endangered snow leopard Uncia uncia is involved in conflict with people across its mountainous range in South and Central Asia, where pastoralism is the predominant land use, and is widely persecuted in retaliation. We examined human-snow leopard conflict at two sites in the Spiti region of the Indian Trans-Himalaya, where livestock outnumber wild ungulates, and the conflict is acute. We quantified the snow leopard's dependence on livestock by assessing its diet in two sites that differed in the relative abundance of livestock and wild ungulates. We also surveyed the indigenous Buddhist community's attitudes towards the snow leopard in these two sites. Our results show a relatively high dependence of snow leopards on livestock. A higher proportion of the snow leopard's diet (58%) was livestock in the area with higher livestock (29.7 animals km^2) and lower wild ungulate abundance (2.1-3.1 bharal Pseudois nayaurkm^2), compared with 40% of diet in the area with relatively lower livestock (13.9km^2) and higher wild ungulate abundance (4.5-7.8 ibex Capra ibexkm^2). We found that the community experiencing greater levels of livestock losses was comparatively more tolerant towards the snow leopard. This discrepancy is explained by the presence of a conservation-incentive program at the site, and by differences in economic roles of livestock between these two communities. The former is more dependent on cash crops as a source of income while the latter is more dependent on livestock, and thereby less tolerant of the snow leopard. These data have implications for conflict management strategies. They indicate that the relative densities of livestock and wild prey may be reasonable predictors of the extent of predation by the snow leopard. However, this by itself is not an adequate measure of the intensity of conflict even in apparently similar cultural settings.
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Lovari, S., Minder, I., Ferretti, F., Mucci, N., Randi, E., Pellizzi, B. (2013). Common and snow leopards share prey, but not habitats: competition avoidance by large predators. Journal of Zoology, 291, 127–135.
Abstract: Resource exploitation and behavioural interference underlie competition among
carnivores. Competition is reduced by specializing on different prey and/or spatiotemporal
separation, usually leading to different food habits. We predicted that
two closely related species of large cats, the endangered snow leopard and the
near-threatened common leopard, living in sympatry, would coexist through
habitat separation and exploitation of different prey species. In central Himalaya,
we assessed (2006–2010) habitat and diet overlap between these carnivores. The
snow leopard used grassland and shrubland, whereas the common leopard
selected forest. Contrary to our prediction, snow leopard and common leopard
preyed upon similar wild (Himalayan tahr, musk deer) and domestic species (Bos
spp., dogs). Dietary overlap between snow leopard and common leopard was 69%
(yearly), 76% (colder months) and 60% (warmer months). Thus, habitat separation
should be the result of other factors, most likely avoidance of interspecific
aggression. Habitat separation may not always lead to the use of different prey.
Avoidance of interspecific aggression, rather than exploitation of different
resources, could allow the coexistence of potentially competing large predators.
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Oli, M. K. (1993). A key for the identification of the hair of mammals of a snow leopard (Panthera uncia) habitat in Nepal. Journal of Zoology London, 231(1), 71–93.
Abstract: Analysis of prey remains in scats, particularly hairs, in widely used to study diet of mammalian predators, but identification of hair is often difficult because hair structures vary considerably both within and between species. Use of photographic reference of diagnostically important hair structures from mammals occurring in a predator's habitat has been found to be convenient for routine identification. A photographic reference key was developed for the identification of hairs of the mammals known to occur in a snow leopard (Panthera uncia) habitat in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. The key included a photographic reference of the diagnostic hair structures of nine species of wild and five species of domestic mammals. The cross-sectional appearance, shape and arrangement of medulla, the ratio of cortex to medulla, and the form and distribution of pigment in medulla and cortex were important diagnostic aids in the identification of hairs.
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Espinosa-Aviles, D., Taylor, M. L., Del Rocio Reyes-Montes, M., & Pe'rez-Torrez, A. (2008). Molecular findings of disseminated histoplasmosis in two captive snow leopards (Uncia uncia) (Vol. 39).
Abstract: This paper reports two cases of disseminated histoplasmosis in captive snow leopards (Uncia uncia). Histoplasmosis was diagnosed based on histopathology, immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy, and molecular findings.
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Kazensky, C. A., Munson, L., & Seal, U. S. (1998). The effects of melengestrol acetate on the ovaries of captive wild felids. Journal-of-Zoo-and-Wildlife-Medicine, 29(1), 1–5.
Abstract: Melengestrol acetate (MGA) is the most widely used contraceptive in zoo felids, but the mechanism of contraception and the pathologic effects have not been investigated. For this study, the effects of MGA on folliculogenesis were assessed, and the association of MGA with ovarian lesions was evaluated. Comparisons were made among the histopathologic findings in the ovaries from 88 captive wild felids (representing 15 species) divided into three groups: 37 currently contracepted with MGA, eight previously exposed to MGA, and 43 never contracepted. Ninety-one percent of the felids evaluated had tertiary follicles, and no differences were noted between contracepted and uncontracepted cats. Some MGA-contracepted cats also had corpora lutea indicating recent ovulation. These results indicate that folliculogenesis is not suppressed by current doses of MGA and ovulation occurred in some cats. Therefore, the contraceptive actions of MGA do not occur by suppressing folliculogenesis, and MGA-contracepted felids likely have endogenous estrogens that may confound progestin effects on the uterus. Cystic rete ovarii was the most common pathologic finding, but they were not more prevalent in MGA-contracepted cats. These findings indicate that MGA is not associated with ovarian disease, including ovarian cancer, in contrast to the uterine lesions noted in MGA-treated cats.
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Chakraborty, R. E., & Chakraborty, S. (1996). Identification of dorsal guard hairs of Indian species of the genus Panthera Oken (Carnivora: Felidae). Mammalia, 60(3), 480.
Abstract: Dorsal guard hairs of four living Indian species of the genus Panthera, viz. P. tigris, P. leo, P. pardus and P. uncia have been studied. It is found that the characters are somewhat overlapping, but identification of the species may be possible from the combination of characters.
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Oli, M. K. (1996). Seasonal patterns in habitat use of blue sheep Pseudois nayaur (Artiodactyla, Bovidae) in Nepal. Mammalia, 60(2), 187–193.
Abstract: Blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) are the main prey of the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) as well as an important game species in Nepal. A knowledge of how blue sheep utilize their habitat is essential for the scientific management of the sheep and for the conservation of the snow leopard, but we only have a limited understanding of this aspect of blue sheep ecology. I studied the habitat use pattern of blue sheep by direct observation in the Anna-purna Conservation Area, Nepal where they occur sympatrically with the snow leopard. The sheep used grassland habitats more frequently during pre-parturition (spring) and post-parturition (autumn) than other habitat types, but scrub and grassland habitats were used equally frequently during the rut (winter). The sheep used smooth undulating slopes of medium steepness (<40 degrees) on southerly aspects within the elevation range of 4,200-4,600 m most frequently in all seasons, and there was no evidence of seasonal migration along the elevation gradient. When not in broken landforms (e.g., cliff, landslides), the sheep maintained proximity (less than or equal to 150 m) to such features suggesting their importance as escape cover (i.e., from predators). The use of habitat components by blue sheep appeared to be related to the distribution of foraging areas and escape cover.
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Oli, M. K. (1997). Winter home range of snow leopards in Nepal. Mammalia, 61(3), 355–360.
Abstract: Because of their low densities, sparse distribution, elusive behavior, and the precipitous habitat they occupy, snow leopards (Uncia uncia) have been the subject of limited study. This study contributes to that limited database with an investigation of the winter home range of 3 radio-collared snow leopards (2 females and 1 male) in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Winter home ranges varied from 13.9-22.3 km2 (x = 19.1). Home ranges overlapped extensively within and between sexes, and an area of 8.1 km2 in the core study site was shared by all three leopards.
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