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Suryawanshi, K. (2011). An encounter in snow. FRONTLINE, 28(10).
Abstract: In the trans-Himalayan region, a conservation effort has reduced conflicts between snow leopards and pastoralists. Photographs & text by author.
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Johansson, T., A. Johansson, Orjan. McCarthy, Tom. (2011). An Automatic VHF Transmitter Monitoring System for Wildlife Research. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 35((4)), 489–493.
Abstract: We describe an automated system for Monitoring multiple very high frequency (VHF) transmitters, which are commonly employed in wildlife studies. The system consists of a microprocessor-controlled radio-frequency monitor equipped with advanced signal-processing capabilities that communicates with, and release snow leopard (Panthera uncia) study in Mongolia, where checking trap-site transmitters manually entailed climbing a hill with telemetry equipment several times each day and night. Here, it monitors the trap site transmitters and actively produces an alarm when any of the traps have been triggered, or if the system has lost contact with any trap-transmitter. The automated system allowed us to constantly monitor transmitters from a research camp, and alerted us each time a trap was triggered. The sys ten has been field-tested for 83 days from mid-September 2010 to mid- December 2010 in the Tost mountain range on the edge of Mongolia's Gobi desert. During this time, the system performed reliably, responding correctly to 45 manually generated alarms and 9 animal captures. The system considerably sorters the time the captured animals spend in traps, and also mitigates the need for manual trap-site transmitter monitoring, greatly reducing risk to the animal and the human effort involved.
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Mongolian News. (2011, 43 1142). 50 wild sheep will be hunted this year., 4.
Abstract: Notice that the Mongolian government will allow the taking of 4 snow leopards in 2011.
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Gurung, G. S. (2011). Enhancing herder's livelihoods and conserving the snow leopard in Nepal. Cat News, 55, 6.
Abstract: Loss of livestock to snow leopards Panthera Uncia is one of the primary concerns of subsistence herders' communities and one of the primary threats to conservation of this endsngered species throughout the alpine regions of the central Asia. Unless the relationship between snow leopards abd humans is better understood and appropriate strategies are applied, coexistence may not be sustainable. thus, to address this issue, WWF Nepal piloted a community-managed livestock insurance scheme in Ghunsa valley of Kangchenjunga Conservation Area simultaneously with various types of mitigation measures (i.e preventive and curative) We found significan advantages of the insurance scheme including that it is self-sustaining and locally managed thereby ensuring it is economically viable and effective in preventive retaliatory killing of snow leopards. The main strength of the insurance scheme is that it was designed and developed in close co-operation with the affected herders' communities. The communities start by designing a simple livestock insurance plan whereby owners contribute to a common fund that is later administered and managed at the local level, thus reducing likelihood of fraud. Benefit sharing of funds among subsistence herders' communities from income generating activities is on of the positive motivating tools for people towards snow leopards. Since initiated, snow leopard killings have gone from 1-3/year to 0/year for 3 years.
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Kanderian, N., Lawson, D., Zahler, P. (2011). Current status of wildlife and conservation in Afghanistan. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 68(3), 281–298.
Abstract: Afghanistan’s position in latitude, geography and at the intersection of three biogeographic realms has resulted in a surprising biodiversity. Its wildlife includes species such as the snow leopard, Asiatic black bear, Marco Polo sheep, markhor and greater flamingo. Principal threats include high levels of deforestation, land encroachment and hunting for food and trade. Continuing security issues have also made it difficult to monitor species abundance and population trends. Over the last decade, however, survey efforts have provided the first collection of species and habitat data since the late 1970s. Initial findings are enabling the Government and rural communities to begin implementing important conservation measures. This process has included policy development and protected area planning, promoting alternative livelihoods and responsible community management, and continuing research into the status of biodiversity in the field.
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Simms, A., Moheb, Z., Salahudin, Ali, H., Ali, I. & Wood, T. (2011). Saving threatened species in Afghanistan: snow leopards in the Wakhan Corridor. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 68(3), 299–312.
Abstract: The Wakhan Corridor in northeast Afghanistan is an area known for relatively abundant wildlife and it appears to represent Afghanistan’s most important snow leopard landscape. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been working in Wakhan since 2006. Recent camera trap surveys have documented the presence of snow leopards at 16 different locations in the landscape. These are the first camera trap records of snow leopards in Afghanistan. Threats to snow leopards in the region include the fur trade, retaliatory killing by shepherds and the capture of live animals for pets. WCS is developing an integrated management approach for this species, involving local governance, protection by a cadre of rangers, education, construction of predator-proof livestock corrals, a livestock insurance program, tourism and research activities. This management approach is expected to contribute significantly to the conservation of snow leopards and other wildlife species in the Wakhan.
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Janeč, & ka, J. E., Munkhtsog, B., Jackson, R.M., Naranbaatar, G., Mallon, D.P. & Murphy, W.J. (2011). Comparison of noninvasive genetic and camera-trapping techniques for surveying snow leopards. Journal of Mammalogy, 92(4), 771–783.
Abstract: The endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is widely but sparsely distributed throughout the mountainous regions of central Asia. Detailed information on the status and abundance of the snow leopard is limited because of the logistical challenges faced when working in the rugged terrain it occupies, along with its secretive nature. Camera-trapping and noninvasive genetic techniques have been used successfully to survey this felid. We compared noninvasive genetic and camera-trapping snow leopard surveys in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. We collected 180 putative snow leopard scats from 3 sites during an 8-day period along 37.74 km of transects. We then conducted a 65-day photographic survey at 1 of these sites, approximately 2 months after scat collection. In the site where both techniques were used noninvasive genetics detected 5 individuals in only 2 days of fieldwork compared to 7 individuals observed in the 65-day camera-trapping session. Estimates of population size from noninvasive genetics ranged between 16 and 19 snow leopards in the 314.3-km2 area surveyed, yielding densities of 4.9–5.9 individuals/100 km2. In comparison, the population estimate from the 65-day photographic survey was 4 individuals (adults only) within the 264-km2 area, for a density estimate of 1.5 snow leopards/100 km2. Higher density estimates from the noninvasive genetic survey were due partly to an inability to determine age and exclude subadults, reduced spatial distribution of sampling points as a consequence of collecting scats along linear transects, and deposition of scats by multiple snow leopards on common sites. Resulting differences could inflate abundance estimated from noninvasive genetic surveys and prevent direct comparison of densities derived from the 2 approaches unless appropriate adjustments are made to the study design.
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Dickman, A., Macdonald, E., Macdonald, D. (2011). A review of financial instruments to pay for predator conservation and encourage human–carnivore coexistence. PNAS, 108(34), 13937–13944.
Abstract: One of the greatest challenges in biodiversity conservation today is how to facilitate protection of species that are highly valued at a global scale but have little or even negative value at a local scale. Imperiled species such as large predators can impose significant economic costs at a local level, often in poverty-stricken rural areas where households are least able to tolerate such costs, and impede efforts of local people, especially traditional pastoralists, to escape from poverty. Furthermore, the costs and benefits involved in predator conservation often include diverse dimensions, which are hard to quantify and nearly impossible to reconcile with one another. The best chance of effective conservation relies upon translating the global value of carnivores into tangible local benefits large enough to drive conservation “on the ground.” Although human–carnivore coexistence involves significant noneconomic values, providing financial incentives to those affected negatively by carnivore presence is a common strategy for encouraging such coexistence, and this can also have important benefits in terms of reducing poverty. Here, we provide a critical overview of such financial instruments, which we term “payments to encourage coexistence”; assess the pitfalls and potentials of these methods, particularly compensation and insurance, revenuesharing, and conservation payments; and discuss how existing strategies of payment to encourage coexistence could be combined to facilitate carnivore conservation and alleviate local poverty.
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Johansson, T., A. Johansson, Orjan. McCarthy, Tom. (2011). An Automatic VHF Transmitter Monitoring System for Wildlife Research. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 9999, 1–5.
Abstract: We describe an automated system for monitoring multiple very high frequency (VHF) transmitters, which are commonly employed in wildlife studies. The system consists of a microprocessor-controlled radio-frequency monitor equipped with advanced signal-processing capabilities that communicates with, and relays information to, a user interface unit at a different location. the system was designed for a capture-and-release snow leopard (Panthera uncia) study in Mongolia, where checking trap-site transmitters manually entailed climbing a hill with telemetry equipment several times each day and night. Here, it monitors the trap-site transmitters and actively produces an alarm when any of the traps have been triggered, or if the system has lost contact with any trap-transmitter. The automated system allowed us to constantly monitor transmitters from a research camp, and alerted us each time a trap was triggered. The system has been field-tested for 83 days from mid-September 2010 to mid-december 2010 in the Tost mountain range on the edge of Mongolia's Gobi desert. During this time, the system performed reliably, responding correctly to 45 manually generated alarms and 9 animal captures. The system considerably shortens the time the captured animals spend in traps, and also mitigates the need for manual trap-site transmitter monitoring, greatly reducing risk to the animal and the human effort involved.
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