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Author Ale, S.B., Brown, J.S.
Title Prey behavior leads to predator: a case study of the Himalayan tahr and the snow leopard in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution Abbreviated Journal
Volume 55 Issue 4 Pages 315-327
Keywords vigilance, fear, behavioral indicator, predator, prey, snow leopard, Himalayan tahr, Mount Everest
Abstract Rare, elusive predators offer few sightings, hindering research with small sample sizes and lack of experimentation. While predators may be elusive, their prey are more readily observed. Prey respond to the presence of a predator, and these fear responses may have population- and community-level consequences. Anti-predator behaviors, such as vigilance, allow us to sidestep the difficulty of direct field studies of large predators by studying them indirectly. Here we used a behavioral indicator, the vigilance behavior of the Himalayan tahr, the snow leopard’s main local prey, to reveal the distribution and habitat use of snow leopards in the Mt. Everest region of Nepal. We combined techniques of conventional field biology with concepts of foraging theory to study prey behavior in order to obtain insights into the predator’s ecology. The Himalayan tahr’s vigilance behavior correlates with the distribution of snow leopard signs. Tahr actually led us to six sightings of snow leopards. We conclude that behavioral indicators provided by prey offer a valuable tool for studying and monitoring stealthy and rare carnivores.
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Publisher Science from Israel, a division of LPPLtd. Place of Publication Israel Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language English Original Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ Serial 1109
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Author Ale, S.B., Boesi, R.
Title Snow Leopard Sightings on the Top of the World Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication Cat News Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue 43 Pages 19-20
Keywords Mt.Everest, Sagarmatha National Park, sightings, snow leopard, Uncia uncia
Abstract Sightings of snow leopards Uncia uncia in the wild are rare. This is because snow leopards occur in low numbers and are very elusive (Schaller 1977). Snow leopards may be sparsely distributed,but they may not, however, be very elusive in the world's highest park, Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park (86° 30' 53“ E to 86° 99' 08” E and 27° 46' 19“ N to 27° 06' 45” N) in Nepal.
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Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ Serial 1111
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Author Lovari, S., Boesi, R., Minder, I., Mucci, N., Randi, E., Dematteis, A., and Ale, S. B.
Title Restoring a keystone predator may endanger a prey species in a human-altered ecosystem: the return of the snow leopard to Sagarmatha National Park Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Animal Conservation Abbreviated Journal
Volume 12 Issue Pages 559-570
Keywords conservation, food habits, genetics, Hemitragus jemlahicus, Himalayan tahr, management, microsatellite, predation, presence, scat, scat analysis, snow leopard, Uncia uncia
Abstract Twenty-five years ago, the snow leopard Uncia uncia, an endangered large cat, was eliminated from what is now Sagarmatha National Park (SNP). Heavy hunting pressure depleted that area of most medium-large mammals, before it became a park. After three decades of protection, the cessation of hunting and the recovery of wild ungulate populations, snow leopards have recently returned (four individuals). We have documented the effects of the return of the snow leopard on the population of its main wild prey, the Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus, a 'near-threatened' caprin. Signs of snow leopard presence were recorded and scats were collected along a fixed trail (130 km) to assess the presence and food habits of the snow leopard in the Park, from 2004 to 2006. Himalayan tahr, the staple of the diet, had a relative occurrence of 48% in summer and 37% in autumn, compared with the next most frequent prey, musk deer Moschus chrysogaster (summer: 20%; autumn: 15%) and cattle (summer: 15%; autumn: 27%). In early summer, the birth rate of tahr (young-to-female ratio: 0.8-0.9) was high. The decrease of this ratio to 0.1-0.2 in autumn implied that summer predation concentrated on young tahr, eventually altering the population by removing the kid cohort. Small populations of wild Caprinae, for example the Himalayan tahr population in SNP, are sensitive to stochastic predation events and may be led to almost local extinction. If predation on livestock keeps growing, together with the decrease of Himalayan tahr, retaliatory killing of snow leopards by local people may be expected, and the snow leopard could again be at risk of local extinction. Restoration of biodiversity through the return of a large predator has to be monitored carefully, especially in areas affected by humans, where the lack of important environmental components, for example key prey species, may make the return of a predator a challenging event.
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Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ Serial 1122
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Author Ale, S., Thapa, K., Jackson, R., Smith, J.L.D.
Title The fate of snow leopards in and around Mt. Everest Type Journal Article
Year 2010 Publication Cat News Abbreviated Journal
Volume 53 Issue Autumn Pages 19-21
Keywords Mt. Everest, Everest, Rolwaling, snow leopard, re-colonize, Nepal
Abstract Since the early 2000s snow leopards Panthera uncia have re-colonized the southern slopes of Mt. Everest after several decades of extirpation. Are they now beginning to disperse to the adjoining valleys that may serve as habitat corridors linking the Everest region to other protected areas in Nepal? We conducted a cursory survey in autumn 2009 in Rolwaling lying west of Mt. Everest and detected snow leopard presence. We conclude that in these remote valleys snow leopards must rely upon livestock given the low abundance of natural prey, Himalayan tahr. Livestock-rearing is unfortunately declining in the region. Rolwaling requires immediate conservation attention for the continued survival of the endangered snow leopard and other high altitude flora and fauna.
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Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ Serial 1181
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Author Ale, S.B.
Title Snow Leopard in Remote Districts of Nepal Type Miscellaneous
Year 1994 Publication Abbreviated Journal
Volume xii Issue Pages
Keywords Nepal; Manang; livestock; livestock-depredation; baiting; predation; villagers; herders; annapurna; retribution; conservation; management; training; tourism; browse; 4600
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Publisher Islt Place of Publication Seattle Editor
Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Full Text at URLJournal Title: Snow Line Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ 447 Serial 54
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Author Ale, S.; Brown, J.
Title The contingencies of group size and vigilance Type Miscellaneous
Year 2007 Publication Evolutionary Ecology Research, Abbreviated Journal
Volume 9 Issue Pages 1263-1276
Keywords attraction effect,contingency,dilution effect,fitness,group-size effect,many-eyes effect,predation risk,vigilance behaviour; predation; decline; potential; predators; predator; feeding; Animals; Animal; use; food; effects; Relationship; behaviour; methods; game; Interactions; interaction; factor; value; Energy
Abstract Background: Predation risk declines non-linearly with one's own vigilance and the vigilance of others in the group (the 'many-eyes' effect). Furthermore, as group size increases, the individual's risk of predation may decline through dilution with more potential victims, but may increase if larger groups attract more predators. These are known, respectively, as the dilution effect and the attraction effect.

Assumptions: Feeding animals use vigilance to trade-off food and safety. Net feeding rate declines linearly with vigilance.

Question: How do the many-eyes, dilution, and attraction effects interact to influence the relationship between group size and vigilance behaviour?

Mathematical methods: We use game theory and the fitness-generating function to determine the ESS level of vigilance of an individual within a group.

Predictions: Vigilance decreases with group size as a consequence of the many-eyes and dilution effects but increases with group size as a consequence of the attraction effect, when they act independent of each other. Their synergetic effects on vigilance depend upon the relative strengths of each and their interactions. Regardless, the influence of other factors on vigilance – such as encounter rate with predators, predator lethality, marginal value of energy, and value of vigilance – decline with group size.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ 886 Serial 53
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Author Ale, S.; Whelan, C.
Title Reappraisal of the role of big, fierce predators Type Miscellaneous
Year 2008 Publication Biodiversity Conservation Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 685-690
Keywords Biodiversity ú Conservation ú Costs of predation ú Indirect effects ú Non-lethal effects ú Predators ú Top-down control; big; predators; predator
Abstract The suggestion in the early 20th century that top predators were a necessary component of ecosystems because they hold herbivore populations in check and promote biodiversity was at Wrst accepted and then largely rejected. With the advent of Evolutionary Ecology and a more full appreciation of direct and indirect effects of top predators, this role of top predators is again gaining acceptance. The previous views were predicated upon lethal effects of predators but largely overlooked their non-lethal effects. We suggest that

conceptual advances coupled with an increased use of experiments have convincingly demonstrated that prey experience costs that transcend the obvious cost of death. Prey species use adaptive behaviours to avoid predators, and these behaviours are not cost-free. With predation risk, prey species greatly restrict their use of available habitats and consumption of available food resources. Effects of top predators consequently cascade down to the trophic levels below them. Top predators, the biggies, are thus both the targets of and the means for conservation at the landscape scale.
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Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ 885 Serial 52
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Author Ale, S.
Title Conservation of the snow leopard in Nepal Type Miscellaneous
Year Publication Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords Nepal; radio-collars; tracking; Annapurna-Conservation-Area; protected-areas; parks; reserves; refuge; conservation; livestock; religion; folklore; blue-sheep; blue; sheep; browse; radio collars; radio; collar; collars; annapurna conservation area; annapurna; area; protected; areas; 4080
Abstract
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Language (up) English Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Full text available at URL Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ 2 Serial 51
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