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Ale, S., Shrestha, B., and Jackson, R. (2014). On the status of Snow Leopard Panthera Uncia (Schreber 1775) in Annapurna, Nepal. Journal of Threatened Taxa, (6(3)), 5534–5543. |
Ferretti, F., Lovari, S., Minder, I., Pellizzi, B. (2014). Recovery of the snow leopard in Sagarmatha (Mt.Everest) National Park: effects on main prey. European Journal of Wildlife Research, (60), 559–562.
Abstract: Consequences of predation may be particularly
heavy on small populations of herbivores, especially if they are threatened with extinction. Over the 2006–2010 period, we documented the effects of the spontaneous return of the endangered snow leopard on the population of the vulnerable Himalayan tahr. The study area was an area of central Himalaya where this cat disappeared c. 40 years before, because of persecution by man. Snow leopards occurred mainly in areas close to the core area of tahr distribution. Tahr was the staple (56.3 %) of snow leopards. After the arrival of this cat, tahr decreased by more than 2/3 from 2003 to 2010 (mainly through predation on kids). Subsequently, the density of snow leopards decreased by 60%from2007 to 2010. The main prey of snow leopards in Asia (bharal, marmots) were absent in our study area, forcing snow leopards to specialize on tahr. The restoration of a complete prey spectrum should be favoured through reintroductions, to conserve large carnivores and to reduce exploitation of small populations of herbivores, especially if threatened. |
Kohli, K., Sankaran, M., Suryawanshi, K. R., Mishra, C. (2014). A penny saved is a penny earned: lean season foraging strategy of an alpine ungulate. Animal Behaviour, (92), 93–100.
Abstract: Lean season foraging strategies are critical for the survival of species inhabiting highly seasonal environments
such as alpine regions. However, inferring foraging strategies is often difficult because of challenges associated with empirically estimating energetic costs and gains of foraging in the field. We generated qualitative predictions for the relationship between daily winter foraging time, body size and forage availability for three contrasting foraging strategies including time minimization, energy intake maximization and net energy maximization. Our model predicts that for animals employing a time minimization strategy, daily winter foraging time should not change with body size and should increase with a reduction in forage availability. For energy intake maximization, foraging time should not vary with either body size or forage availability. In contrast, for a net energy maximization strategy, foraging time should decrease with increase in body size and with a reduction in forage availability. We contrasted proportion of daily time spent foraging by bharal, Pseudois nayaur, a dimorphic grazer, across different body size classes in two high-altitude sites differing in forage availability. Our results indicate that bharal behave as net energy maximizers during winter. As predicted by the net energy maximization strategy, daily winter foraging time of bharal declined with increasing body size, and was lower in the site with low forage availability. Furthermore, as predicted by our model, foraging time declined as the winter season progressed. We did not find support for the time minimizing or energy intake maximizing strategies. Our qualitative model uses relative rather than absolute costs and gains of foraging which are often difficult to estimate in the field. It thus offers a simple way to make informed inferences regarding animal foraging strategies by contrasting estimates of daily foraging time across gradients of body size and forage availability. |
Li, J., Lu, Z. (2014). Snow Leopard poaching and trade in China 2000-2013. Biological Conservation, (176), 207–211.
Abstract: The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising
nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there. |
Li, J., Lu, Z. (2014). Snow Leopard poaching and trade in China 2000-2013. Biological Conservation, (176), 207–211.
Abstract: The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising
nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there. |
Li, J., Lu, Z. (2014). Snow Leopard poaching and trade in China 2000- 2013. Biological Conservation, (176), 207–211.
Abstract: The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising
nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there. |
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Li, J., Lu, Z. (2014). Snow Leopard Poaching and Trade in China 2000-2013. Biological Conservation, (176), 207–211.
Abstract: The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising
nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there. |
Mallon, D. (2013). Trophy Hunting of Cites-Listed Species in Central Asia.
Abstract: Executive Summary:
The report is part of a project aiming to strengthen capacities to implement CITES, especially in Central Asia and to satisfy the CITES‐related requirements of trading partners, to prevent overexploitation and to ensure legal international trade in wild fauna and flora does not exceed sustainable levels. The objective is to enhance the policies and regulations concerning trophy hunting in selected range States of the Argali Ovis ammon: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and to provide a framework for the establishment of sustainable hunting programmes that support conservation. This report is focused on the relevance of trophy hunting for conservation and associated local livelihoods. Sustainable use of biological diversity is an integral part of the Convention on Biodiversity (1992) and is seen as a valuable tool in conserving biological diversity. The Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines (AAPG) set out the basis for sustainable use of natural resources. The IUCN SSC1 Guiding Principles on Trophy Hunting as a Tool for Creating Conservation Incentives, and the European Charter on Hunting and Biodiversity provide further guidance on the sustainability of trophy hunting, including on highly threatened species. The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has also developed Best Practice Guidelines for trophy hunting. All five project countries are Parties to CITES, except Tajikistan, which has begun the accession process. Argali are the focus of the trophy hunting in the region and they represent the most expensive trophy in the five project countries. Other CITES‐listed hunting species are Brown Bear Ursus arctos, Wolf Canis lupus, Musk Deer Moschus moschiferus, Eurasian Lynx Lynx lynx (all mainly in Russia) and Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata. Markhor Capra falconeri and Urial Ovis orientalis have also been hunted at times but are not the object of regular trophy hunting programmes at present. Other widely hunted species are not listed in the CITES Appendices. A recent analysis by TRAFFIC of the CITES trade database showed that 10 245 hunting trophy items from species listed in the CITES Appendices were exported from the project countries between 2000 and 2010. Almost all trophy items consisted of Argali, Brown Bear and Wolf. Most were exported from Russia (9473 trophies), with smaller numbers from Tajikistan (705), Kyrgyzstan (668), and Kazakhstan (126), and 13 from Uzbekistan. In the region, wildlife is generally the property of the State, which awards rights to use it to individuals or other entities. National legislation covering hunting and wildlife protection may refer to sustainable use but this is undefined. The legal rights of local communities are also not generally specified. FAO and CIC produced a review of national legislation that set out in detail the basic principles of sustainable wildlife management laws (2008). One of the main findings was that legislative frameworks in the region frequently consisted of different legal instruments that were not always harmonized and sometimes overlapped. In some cases, there was also a lack of institutional clarity, with overlapping jurisdictions among different agencies. Poaching for meat and trophies or commercial products is a significant factor across the whole region, negatively affecting all the main hunting species, as well as protected species. Wild populations have been reduced, sometimes drastically so. Poaching of Argali and other mountain ungulates may be carried out by military or border personnel and is not restricted to areas outside formal nature reserves: indeed, law enforcement and protected area staff are sometimes complicit in illegal hunting, driven in part by the very low salaries. There are numerous recent examples of poaching and illegal trade in trophies of CITES‐listed species. The actual level of illegal off‐take is unknown. Known cases may represent a very small fraction of the real total. The wildlife conservation sector is under‐resourced across the region with a lack of funding, trained personnel, transport and other equipment severely limiting the effectiveness of anti‐poaching efforts. Memoranda of Understanding under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS MoUs) and their associated action plans for Saiga Saiga tatarica and Bukhara Deer Cervus elaphus bactrianus have proven to be effective instruments in facilitating species recovery. A CMS Single Species Action Plan for Argali is in preparation (Roettger & Singh, in prep) and will provide a framework for conservation. Trophy hunting in the region is predominantly organized on a commercial basis. Community‐based hunting initiatives in the region are in their infancy and face some legal and institutional obstacles. There are however promising developments: for example, five community‐based NGOs in Tajikistan are managing wildlife in legally assigned areas and three of them have hosted hunting clients (on non‐CITES species). Well‐developed community‐based trophy hunting programmes operate in Pakistan, targeted at Markhor Capra falconeri which is listed in CITES Appendix I, and in Namibia, which is widely seen as a leader in such programmes, and while the specific conditions and sociopolitical background of both differ in several ways from those in the region, they nonetheless provide instructive guidance on the principles of successful community conservancy organization. There is an extensive literature on trophy hunting, its potential to contribute to conservation of biodiversity and local livelihoods, and the potential negative effects of selective harvesting on species. The consensus view seems to be that selective harvest of trophy‐age males does not impact negatively in the short term, if only a low proportion of the available trophy‐age individuals are harvested, but uncontrolled harvest can lead to a decline in horn size and thus trophy quality, as well as have negative demographic effects. Trophy hunting programmes raise substantial revenues in some African countries, and in the best cases significant sums are received at community or conservancy level. However, this is not universally the case and inequitable benefit sharing remains a major challenge to be overcome. Good governance is an essential requirement when developing hunting and other forms of community based management initiative. A possible decline in size of Argali trophies in Kyrgyzstan has been reported and determining whether this is actually the case, and the causes, is a priority. Standardized monitoring, involvement of independent experts, transparency in quota setting and allocation of licences are all seen as prerequisites of well‐managed and sustainable hunting operations. Allocation of long‐term leases for concessions is needed to motivate managers to invest in anti‐poaching and other conservation measures and remove the temptation for short‐term profit that threatens the sustainability of the resource. Developing all forms of Community‐based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) – trophy hunting and tourism – is also recommended. As the concept is still new to many parts of the region, and the legal‐political background is not always sympathetic, building on examples of existing community conservancies (in Tajikistan) or where there is an administrative basis for local management of resources (Kyrgyzstan), is likely to be effective. Ensuring that communities and conservancies are legally empowered to manage and utilise wildlife and to receive revenues for such use is a basic requirement. Recommendations on good practice are set out in several publications and salient points relevant to the region are highlighted. |
Sharma, K., Bayrakcismith, R., Tumursukh, L., Johansson, O., Sevger, P., McCarthy, T., Mishra, C. (2014). Vigorous Dynamics Underlie a Stable Population of the Endangered Snow Leopard Panthera uncia in Tost Mountains, South Gobi, Mongolia. Plos One, 9(7).
Abstract: Population monitoring programmes and estimation of vital rates are key to understanding the mechanisms of population growth, decline or stability, and are important for effective conservation action. We report, for the first time, the population trends and vital rates of the endangered snow leopard based on camera trapping over four years in the Tost Mountains, South Gobi, Mongolia. We used robust design multi-season mark-recapture analysis to estimate the trends in abundance, sex ratio, survival probability and the probability of temporary emigration and immigration for adult and young snow leopards. The snow leopard population remained constant over most of the study period, with no apparent growth (l = 1.08+20.25). Comparison of model results with the ‘‘known population’’ of radio-collared snow leopards suggested
high accuracy in our estimates. Although seemingly stable, vigorous underlying dynamics were evident in this population, with the adult sex ratio shifting from being male-biased to female-biased (1.67 to 0.38 males per female) during the study. Adult survival probability was 0.82 (SE+20.08) and that of young was 0.83 (SE+20.15) and 0.77 (SE +20.2) respectively, before and after the age of 2 years. Young snow leopards showed a high probability of temporary emigration and immigration (0.6, SE +20.19 and 0.68, SE +20.32 before and after the age of 2 years) though not the adults (0.02 SE+20.07). While the current female-bias in the population and the number of cubs born each year seemingly render the study population safe, the vigorous dynamics suggests that the situation can change quickly. The reduction in the proportion of male snow leopards may be indicative of continuing anthropogenic pressures. Our work reiterates the importance of monitoring both the abundance and population dynamics of species for effective conservation. |