Abstract: The threat posed by large carnivores to livestock and humans makes peaceful coexistence between
them difficult. Effective implementation of conservation laws and policies depends on the attitudes of local
residents toward the target species. There are many known correlates of human attitudes toward carnivores,
but they have only been assessed at the scale of the individual. Because human societies are organized hierarchically, attitudes are presumably influenced by different factors at different scales of social organization, but this scale dependence has not been examined.We used structured interview surveys to quantitatively assess the attitudes of a Buddhist pastoral community toward snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis lupus).
We interviewed 381 individuals from 24 villages within 6 study sites across the high-elevation Spiti Valley in
the Indian Trans-Himalaya. We gathered information on key explanatory variables that together captured
variation in individual and village-level socioeconomic factors.We used hierarchical linear models to examine how the effect of these factors on human attitudes changed with the scale of analysis from the individual to the community. Factors significant at the individual level were gender, education, and age of the respondent (for wolves and snow leopards), number of income sources in the family (wolves), agricultural production, and large-bodied livestock holdings (snow leopards). At the community level, the significant factors included the number of smaller-bodied herded livestock killed by wolves and mean agricultural production (wolves) and village size and large livestock holdings (snow leopards). Our results show that scaling up from the individual to higher levels of social organization can highlight important factors that influence attitudes of people toward wildlife and toward formal conservation efforts in general. Such scale-specific information can help managers apply conservation measures at appropriate scales. Our results reiterate the need for conflict management programs to be multipronged.

Abstract: International collaboration to ensure the long-term survival of snow leopards (Uncia uncia) in the wild is today more acutely needed than ever! Trade in live snow leopards, their skins and bones, has during the last decade reached such extensiveness that the species is in danger of being wiped out from many of its former habitats. All recent surveys support declining populations throughout most of their range.

Abstract: Pastoralism and predation are two major concomitantly known facts and matters of concern for conservation biologists worldwide. Pastoralist-predator conflict constitutes a major social-ecological concern in the Pamir mountain range encompassing Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, and affects community attitudes and tolerance toward carnivores. Very few studies have been conducted to understand the dynamics of livestock predation by large carnivores like snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis
lupus), owing to the region�s remoteness and inaccessibility. This study attempts to assess the intensity of livestock predation (and resulting perceptions) by snow leopards and wolves across the Afghani, Pakistani, and Tajik Pamir range during the period January 2008�June 2012. The study found that livestock mortality due to disease is the most serious threat to livestock (an average 3.5 animal heads per household per year) and ultimately to the rural economy (an average of US$352 per household per year) as compared to
predation (1.78 animal heads per household per year, US$191) in the three study sites. Overall, 1419 (315 per year) heads of livestock were reportedly killed by snow leopards (47%) and wolves (53%) in the study sites. People with comparatively smaller landholdings and limited earning options, other than livestock rearing, expressed negative attitudes toward both wolves and snow leopards and vice versa. Education was found to be an effective solution to dilute people�s hatred for predators. Low public tolerance of the wolf and
snow leopard in general explained the magnitude of the threat facing predators in the Pamirs. This will likely continue unless tangible and informed conservation measures like disease control and predation compensation programs are taken among others.

Abstract: Livestock depredation by the snow leopard, Uncia uncia, and the wolf, Canis lupus, has resulted in a human-wildlife conflict that hinders the conservation of these globally-threatened species throughout their range. This paper analyses the alleged economic loss due to livestock depredation by these carnivores, and the retaliatory responses of an agro-pastoral community around Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary in the Indian trans-Himalaya. The three villages studied (80 households) attributed a total of 189 livestock deaths (18% of the livestock holding) over a period of 18 months to wild predators, and this would amount to a loss per household equivalent to half the average annual per capita income. The financial compensation received by the villagers from the Government amounted to 3% of the perceived annual loss. Recent intensification of the conflict seems related to a 37.7% increase in livestock holding in the last decade. Villagers have been killing the wolf, though apparently not the snow leopard. A self-financed compensation scheme, and modification of existing livestock pens are suggested as area-specific short-term measures to reduce the conflict. The need to address the problem of increasing livestock holding in the long run is emphasized.

Abstract: Impacts on households from large carnivores are frequently reported in the conservation literature, but conflicts between households and large carnivore conservation are not. Employing a human-wildlife coexistence framework that distinguishes between human-wildlife impacts on one hand, and human-conservation conflicts on the other, this paper presents data from Annapurna Conservation Area and Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park, Nepal, each with different models of conservation governance. Using systematic sampling, quantitative information from 705 households was collected via questionnaires, while 70 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants for cross-methods triangulation. 7.7% of households reported conflicts with snow leopard conservation in the previous 12 months, primarily due to damage to livelihoods; these were significantly higher in the Annapurna region. 373 livestock were reported lost by households to snow leopards in the previous 12 months, representing 3.4% of total livestock owned and US$ 132,450 in financial value. Livestock losses were significantly lower in the Everest area. In linear regression models, total household livestock losses to all sources best explained conflicts with snow leopard conservation and household livestock losses to snow leopards but the models for the former dependent variable had very low explanatory power. Conservation in general, and large carnivore conservation in particular, should distinguish carefully between impacts caused by coexistence with these species and conflicts with conservation actors and over the methods and interventions used to conserve carnivores, especially where these negatively impact local livelihoods. In addition, livestock husbandry standards are highlighted again as an important factor in the success of carnivore conservation programmes.