Abstract: Notes snow leopard is only a visitor and no longer a resident in Chitral Gol

Abstract: This study was carried out in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA), Eastern Nepal from Feb – Nov 2007. We used the Snow Leopard Information Management System, SLIMS (second order survey technique) to determine the relative abundance of snow leopard in the upper part of KCA. Altogether, 36 transects (total length of 15.21 km) were laid down in the major three blocks of KCA. 104 Signs (77 scrapes, 20 feces, 2 Scent mark, 3 Pugmarks and 2 hairs) were recorded. Fixed-point count method was applied for blue sheep from appropriate vantage points. We counted total individual in each herd using 8x42 binocular and 15-60x spotting scope. A total of 43 herds and 1102 individuals were observed in the area. The standard SLIMS questionnaire was conducted to find out relevant information on livestock depredation patterns. Out of 35 households surveyed in KCA, 48% of herders lost livestock due to snow leopards. A total of 21 animals were reportedly lost due to snow leopards from August to September 2007.

Abstract: From March to May, 2006œªwe conducted extensive snow leopard surveys in the Burhanbuda Mountain Kunlun Mountains, Qinghai Province, China. 32 linear transect of 5~15 km each, which running through each vegetation type, were surveyed within the study area. A total of 72 traces of snow leopard were found along 4 transects (12.5% of total transects). The traces included pug marks or footprints, scrapes and urine marks. We estimated the average density of wild ungulates in the region was 2.88ñ0.35 individuals km-2(n=29). We emplaced 16 auto2 trigger cameras in different environments and eight photos of snow leopard were shot by four cameras and the capture rate of snow leopard was 71.4%. The minimum snow leopard population size in the Burhanbuda Mountain was two, because two snow leopards were phototrapped by different cameras at almost same time. Simultaneously, the cameras also shot 63 photos of other wild animals, including five photos are unidentified wild animals, and 20 photos of livestock. We evaluated the human attitudes towards snow leopard by interviewing with 27 Tibetan householders of 30 householders live in the study area. We propose to establish a nature reserve for protecting and managing snow leopards in the region. Snow leopard (Uncia uncia) is considered as a unique species because it lives above the snow line, it is endemic to alpines in Central Asia, inhabiting in 12 countries across Central Asia (Fox, 1992). Snow leopard ranges in alpine areas in Qinghai, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Gansu and Sichuan in western China (Liao, 1985, 1986; Zhou, 1987; Ma et al., 2002; Jiang & Xu, 2006). The total population and habitat of snow leopards in China are estimated to be 2,000~2,500 individuals and 1,824,316 km2, only 5% of which is under the protection of nature reserves. The cat's current range is fragmented (Zou & Zheng, 2003). Due to strong human persecutions, populations of snow leopards decreased significantly since the end of the 20th century. Thus, the
snow leopards are under the protection of international and domestic laws. From March to May, 2006, we conducted two field surveys in Zhiyu Village, Dulan County in Burhanbuda Mountain, Kunlun Mountains, China to determine the population, distribution and survival status of snow leopards in the area. The aim of the study was to provide ecologic data for snow leopard conservation.

Abstract: In the Nepalese Himalaya, conflict with rural communities due to livestock predation to large carnivores like snow leopard, common leopard, wolf and wild dog has risen sharply in recent years. This increase is attributed to a number of factors, including implementation and enforcement of wildlife protection laws (which have permitted a recovery in carnivore numbers), the creation of protected areas (which serve as refuges from which predators can populate the surrounding area), the depletion of natural prey due to poaching and loss of habitat, and lax livestock herding practices. However, little information is presently available upon which to design remedial programs. U.S. AID provided research funding for an in-depth assessment of snow leopard predation in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACAP), an new innovative approach to nature conservation. Baseline information on livestock numbers and mortality were gathered during household interviews, followed by field surveys to assess animal husbandry systems, map pastures, establish periods of use and estimate stocking rates, and to characterize habitat using randomly located plots. Data substantiate the existence of depredation “hotspots”, where high loss occurs, in some cases exceeding 14% to 20% of the livestock population over a short period. Losses varied seasonally, and from year to year. Small-bodied stock like goat and sheep were more vulnerable than large-bodied stock like yak, although horses were especially vulnerable. Factors most closely associated with predation included lack of guarding (or very lax supervision), especially during the daytime, and repeated use of pastures where livestock depredators were known to be actively hunting. Herders usually reacted to repeated depredation incidents by attempting to trap or shoot the suspected culprit until losses declined to an acceptable level. As large carnivore populations become increasingly fragmented and genetically isolated, new management strategies are urgently needed, especially within the buffer zones and intervening corridors between separated parks and reserves. People reside within nearly all Himalayan protected areas, and such issues as loss of livestock and competition between wildlife and livestock cannot be avoided. A plan is offered for alleviating livestock loss in the Annapurna Conservation Area that involves local institutions in decision-making, rewards sound husbandry practices, strengthens indigenous institutions, without further eroding ACAP’s unique biological diversity and diverse carnivore population. The authors believe these measures and ideas could be fruitfully extended to other parts of the Himalaya.

Abstract: Buffer zones have been used as part of larger integrated conservation development programs to provide the benefits of ecological buffering of protected areas and socioeconomic buffering of neighboring communities. The authors explore the legal and managerial development of buffer zones internationally and with the passage of a conservation amendment in Nepal. A review of Nepal's buffer zone policies and several ongoing projects shows that there are several potential inherent problems. As written, regulations tend to expand the authority of the state by imposing restrictions in populated areas formerly not under control of park officials. Some participatory rights are provided to citizens, but management authority largely remains top down from the standpoint of local users. The authors question whether the managerial and research capacities exist to monitor buffer zones for their effectiveness both for conservation and development purposes and make several recommendations to improve implementation.

Abstract: The wildlife of temperate forest ecosystems in the Western Himalayas is threatened by destruction of habitat and hunting. Two species of pheasants occuring in the survey area (western tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus and cheer pheasant Catreus wallichi) are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book (1979). Small populations of both species were located and information on their habitat requirements was obtained. The status of most large mammal species appears to be precarious, with the populations encountered being small and fragmented. Species formerly common but now rare include Himalayan brown bear Ursus arctos, Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus and musk deer Moschus moschiferus. The snow leopard Panthera uncia has disappeared completely from the area.-from Authors

Abstract: The principle goal of the project was to raise awareness of local people, staff of frontier posts,
customs and foreign military base on snow leopard, and its conservation. In the framework of the
project the following steps were to be executed:
A) To disseminate printing materials: a booklet, poster, card and calendar.
b) To publish articles on snow leopard ecology and conservation issues and threats in
Kyrgyzstan regional newspapers (Issyk-Kul, Osh, and Chui areas)
C) To hold follow-up meeting with target groups
D) To evaluate project results

Abstract: Tajikistan is the smallest, poorest and one of the most culturally diverse of the former Soviet Republics. The physical and cultural geography of the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan are described, and recent legislative action taken to create a proposed park and civil strife that may stop the park's creation are discussed.

Abstract: The merits of integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs), which aim to provide development incentives to citizens in return for conservation behaviors, have long been debated in the literature. Some of the most common critiques suggest that conservation activities tend to be strongly overpowered by development activities. We studied this assertion through participant observation and archival analysis of five Conservation Area Management Committees (CAMCs) in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA), Nepal. Committee activities were categorized as conservation activities (policy development and conservation implementation), development activities (infrastructure, health care, education, economic development, and sanitation), or activities related to institutional strengthening (administrative development and capacity building activities). Greater longevity of each ICDP was associated with greater conservation activity in relation to development activities. Project life cycles progressed from a focus on development activities in their early stages, through a transitional period of institutional strengthening, and toward a longer-term focus that roughly balanced conservation and development activities. Results suggest that the ICDP concept, as practiced in ACA, has been successful at building capacity for and interest in conservation amongst local communities. However, success has come over a period of nearly a decade, suggesting that prior conclusions about ICDP failures may have been based on unrealistic expectations of the time needed to influence behavioral changes in target populations.

Abstract: Outlines status and distribution of snow leopard in USSR, including comments on reserves created for the species.

Abstract: In the 1960s, the endangered snow leopard was locally extirpated from the Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) region of Nepal. In this Sherpa-inhabited high Himalaya, the flourishing tourism since the ascent of Mt Everest in 1953, has caused both prosperity and adverse impacts, the concern that catalyzed the establishment of Mt. Everest National Park in the region in 1976. In the late 1980s, there were reports that some transient snow leopards may have visited the area from adjoining Tibet, but no biological surveys exist to confirm the status of the cats and their prey. Have snow leopards finally returned to the top of the world? Exploring this question was the main purpose of this research project. We systematically walked altogether 24 sign transects covering over 13 km in length in three valleys, i.e. Namche, Phortse and Gokyo, of the park, and counted several snow leopard signs. The results indicated that snow leopards have made a comeback in the park in response to decades of protective measures, the virtual cessation of hunting and the recovery of the Himalayan tahr which is snow leopard's prey. The average sign density (4.2 signs/km and 2.5 sign sites/km) was comparable to that reported from other parts of the cats' range in the Himalaya. On this basis, we estimated the cat density in the Everest region between 1 to 3 cats per 100 sq km, a figure that was supported by different sets of pugmarks and actual sightings of snow leopards in the 60 km2 sample survey area. In the study area, tahr population had a low reproductive rate (e.g. kids-to-females ratio, 0.1, in Namche). Since predators can influence the size and the structure of prey species populations through mortality and through non-lethal effects or predation risk, snow leopards could have been the cause of the population dynamics of tahr in Sagarmtha, but this study could not confirm this speculation for which further probing may be required.