Abstract: Conflicts between humans and snow leopards are documented across much of their overlapping distribution
in Central Asia. These conflicts manifest themselves primarily in the form of livestock depredation
and the killing of snow leopards by local herders. This source of mortality to snow leopards is a key conservation concern. To investigate human-snow leopard conflicts in the Sanjiangyuan Region of the Tibetan Plateau, we conducted household interviews about local herders’ traditional use of snow leopard
parts, livestock depredation, and overall attitudes towards snow leopards. We found most respondents
(58%) knew that snow leopard parts had been used for traditional customs in the past, but they claimed
not in the past two or three decades. It may be partly due to the issuing of the Protection of Wildlife Law
in 1998 by the People’s Republic of China. Total livestock losses were damaging (US$ 6193 per household
in the past 1 year), however snow leopards were blamed by herders for only a small proportion of those
losses (10%), as compared to wolves (45%) and disease (42%). Correspondingly, the cultural images of
snow leopards were neutral (78%) and positive (9%) on the whole. It seems that human-snow leopard
conflict is not intense in this area. However, snow leopards could be implicated by the retaliatory killing
of wolves. We recommend a multi-pronged conservation program that includes compensation, insurance
programs, and training local veterinarians to reduce livestock losses.

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.

Abstract: 1. Camera trapping, paired with analytical methods for estimating occupancy, abundance and other ecological parameters, can yield information with direct consequences for wildlife management and conservation. Although ecological information is the primary target of most camera trap studies, detectability influences every aspect from design to interpretation.
2. Concepts and methods of time-toevent analysis are directly applicable to camera trapping, yet this statistical field has thus far been ignored as a way to analyze photographic capture data. to illustrate the use to time-to-event statistics and to better understand how photographic evidence accumulates, we explored patterns in tow related measure of detectability: Detection probability and time to detection. We analyzed camera trap data for three sympatric carnivores ( snow Leopard, red fox and stone marten) in the mountains of northern Pakistan and tested predictions about patterns in detectability across species, sites and time.
3. We found species-specific differences in the magnitude of detectability and the factors influencing it, reinforcing the need to consider determinants of detectability in study design and to account for them during analysis. Photographic detectability of snow leopard was noticeably lower than that of red fox, but comparable to detectability of stone marten. Site-specific attributes such as the presence of carnivore sign ( snow Leopard), terrain ( snow leopard and red fox) and application for lures ( red fox) influenced detectability. For the most part, detection probability was constant over time.
4. Species- specific differences in factors determining detectability make camera trap studies targeting multiple species particularly vulnerable to misinterpretation if the hierarchical origin of the data is ignored. Investigators should consider not only the magnitude of detectability, but also the shape of the curve describing the cumulative process of photographic detection, as this has consequences for both determining survey effort and the election of analytical models. Weighted time-to -event analysis can complement occupancy analysis and other hierarchal methods by providing additional tools for exploring camera trap data and testing hypotheses regarding the temporal aspect of photographic evidence accumulation.

Abstract: The protection of Snow Leopards in the remote and economically disadvantaged Northern Areas of Pakistan needs local people equipped with the skills to gather and present information on the number and range of individual animals in their area. It is important for the success of a conservation campaign that the people living in the area are engaged in the conservation process. Snow Leopards are elusive and range through inhospitable terrain so direct study is difficult. Consequently the major goals for this project were twofold, to gather information on snow leopard distribution in this area and to train local university students and conservation management professionals in the techniques used for locating snow leopards without the need to capture or even see the animals. This project pioneered the use of DNA testing of field samples collected in Pakistan to determine the distribution of snow leopards and to attempt to identify individuals. These were collected in and around that country's most northerly national park, the Kunjurab National Park, which sits on the Pakistan China border. Though the Northern Areas is not a well developed part of Pakistan, it does possess a number of institutions that can work together to strengthen snow leopard conservation. The first of these is a newly established University with students ready to be trained in the skills needed. Secondly WWF-Pakistan has an office in the main town and a state of the art GIS laboratory in Lahore and already works closely with the Forest Department who manage the national park. All three institutions worked together in this project with WWF providing GIS expertise, the FD rangers, and the university students carrying out the laboratory work. In addition in the course of the project the University of the Punjab in Lahore also joined the effort, providing laboratory facilities for the students. As a result of this project maps have been produced showing the location of snow leopards in
two areas. Preliminary DNA evidence indicates that there is more than one animal in this
relatively small area, but the greatest achievement of this project is the training and
experience gained by the local students. For one student this has been life changing. Due to
the opportunities provided by this study the student, Nelofar gained significant scientific
training and as a consequence she is now working as a lecturer and research officer for the
Center for Integrated Mountain Research, New Campus University of the Punjab, Lahore
Pakistan

Abstract: The elusive snow leopard Panthera unica is a rare and little studied species in China. Over 1 March-15 May 2006 we conducted a survey for the snow leopard in the Gouli Region, East Burhanbuda Mountain, Kunlun Mountains, Qinghai Province, China, in an area of c. 300 km2 at altitudes of 4,000-4,700 m. We surveyed 29 linear transects with a total length of c. 440 km, and located a total of 72 traces (pug marks, scrapes and urine marks) of snow leopard along four of the transects. We obtained eight photographs of snow leopard from four of six camera traps. We also recorded 1,369 blue sheep, 156 Tibetan gazelles, 47 argali, 37 red deer and one male white-lipped deer. We evaluated human attitudes towards snow leopard by interviewing the heads of 27 of the 30 Tibetan households living in the study area. These local people did not consider that snow leopard is the main predator of their livestock, and thus there is little retaliatory killing. Prospects for the conservation of snow leopard in this area therefore appear to be good. We analysed the potential threats to the species and propose the establishment of a protected area for managing snow leopard and the fragile alpine ecosystem of this region. (c) 2008 Fauna & Flora International.