Abstract: In 2006 and 2007, the authors conducted human-wildlife conflict surveys in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) Shainza, Nyima, and Tsonyi Counties, located in the TAR’s remote Chang Tang region. At this time, prior knowledge of the snow leopard in this vast 700,000 km2 region was limited to just eight firsthand snow leopard sign and conflict location records and 15 secondhand records. These surveys revealed a previously undocumented and growing problem of human-snow leopard conflict. The 2007 survey also yielded 39 new snow leopard conflict incident locations and 24 new snow leopard sign locations. Next, snow leopard telephone interviews and mapping exercises were conducted with Tibet Forestry Bureau staff that yielded an additional 63 and 144 new snow leopard conflict and sighting location records, respectively. These 270 new snow leopard location records, together with 39 records collected by other observers from 1988 to 2009, were compiled into a snow leopard distribution map for the Chang Tang. This effort greatly expanded knowledge of the snow leopard’s distribution in this region which remains one of the least understood of the snow leopard’s key range areas. New knowledge gained on snow leopard distribution in the Chang Tang through this exercise will help identify human-snow leopard conflict hot spots and inform design of human-snow leopard conflict mitigation and conservation strategies for northwest Tibet. Nevertheless, extensive additional field verification work will be required to definitively delineate snow leopard distribution in the Chang Tang. Importantly, since 2006, a number of major transportation infrastructure projects have made the Chang Tang more accessible, including paving of highways, new railroads, and new airports. This has led to a greatly increased number of tourists visiting western Tibet, particularly Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. At the same time, large areas of the Chang Tang have been fenced for livestock pastures as part of government initiatives to allocate pasturelands to individual families. All three of these developments have a large potential to cause disturbance to snow leopards and their prey species, including by hindering their movements and degrading their habitat. Therefore, future conservation measures in the Chang Tang will need to insure that development activities and the growing number of visitors to the Chang Tang do not adversely affect the distribution of snow leopards and their prey species or directly degrade their habitat.

Abstract: The snow leopard Panthera uncia is an elusive species
inhabiting some of the most remote and inaccessible tracts of Central
and South Asia. It is difficult to determine its distribution and
density pattern, which are crucial for developing conservation
strategies. Several techniques for species detection combining camera
traps with remote sensing and geographic information systems have been
developed to model the habitat of such cryptic and low-density species
in challenging terrains. Utilising presence-only data from camera traps
and direct observations, alongside six environmental variables
(elevation, aspect, ruggedness, distance to water, land cover, and prey
habitat suitability), we assessed snow leopard habitat suitability
across Ladakh in northern India. This is the first study to model snow
leopard distribution both in India and utilising direct observation
data. Results suggested that elevation and ruggedness are the two most
influential environmental variables for snow leopard habitat
suitability, with highly suitable habitat having an elevation range of
2,800 m to 4,600 m and ruggedness of 450 m to 1,800 m. Our habitat
suitability map estimated approximately 12% of Ladakh’s geographical
area (c. 90,000 km2) as highly suitable and 18% as medium suitability.
We found that 62.5% of recorded livestock depredation along with over
half of all livestock corrals (54%) and homestays (58%) occurred within
highly suitable snow leopard habitat. Our habitat suitability model can
be used to assist in allocation of conservation resources by targeting
construction of livestock corrals to areas of high habitat suitability
and promoting ecotourism programs in villages in highly suitable snow
leopard habitat.

Abstract: Executive Summary: Evolved to live in some of the world’s highest and harshest habitats, the elusive and rare snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are undisputed icons of High Asia. Across their distributional range in Central and South Asia, the snow leopard’s habitat spans diverse landscapes, with livestock herding being the most dominant form of land use. As a result, areas inhabited by snow leopards and people often overlap, creating challenges as well as opportunities for their conservation. Snow leopard conservation has received increasing attention in the past two decades and global interest in protecting this unique high-mountain cat continues to rise. However, effective and efficient snow leopard conservation initiatives require multi-dimensional research and collaboration among a diverse array of actors. National governments in snow leopard range, for instance, have repeatedly pledged their support for the conservation of the animal and the breathtaking landscapes they inhabit. These landscapes house an array of unique high-altitude wildlife and provide homes and life-sustaining natural resources to hundreds of millions of people. The mountains of High Asia also form the headwaters of 20 major river basins, an important water source for 22 countries (Sindorf et al., 2014). More than 2 billion people live in these basins which overlap the snow leopard range. Given the growing interest in and commitment towards conservation of snow leopards and their habitats, it is crucial to examine the depth and breadth of knowledge currently available to inform conservation efforts and identify gaps in that knowledge. We reviewed over 100 years of published research on snow leopards to examine its temporal and spatial trends across an array of thematic areas. Snow leopard research intensified in the 1970s and studies on snow leopards have continued to increase exponentially since then. However, just four hotspots of snow leopard research (sites with continued multi-year research) have emerged, with less than 23% of the snow leopard range being researched. Nepal, India and China have conducted the most snow leopard research, followed by Mongolia and Pakistan. Our analysis revealed that snow leopard research was highly focussed on ecological research followed by studies on human-wildlife conflict. Most ecological studies focused on estimating the number and distribution of snow leopards and prey species. However, conservationists have surveyed less than 3% of the snow leopard range using rigorous and scientifically acceptable abundance estimation approaches. The lack of attention to the human dimensions of conservation was particularly stark, especially given that the majority of the snow leopard range is inhabited by local communities dependent on livestock herding. More importantly, very few studies evaluated the effectiveness of conservation actions. A lack of evidence demonstrating and quantifying the impacts of conservation interventions is a significant knowledge gap in snow leopard research. In this review, we identify and suggest the high-priority research necessary for effective conservation planning for snow leopards and their multiple-use habitat in High Asia.

Abstract: Pakistan’s total estimated snow leopard habitat is about
80,000 km2 of which about half is considered prime habitat. However,
this preliminary demarcation was not always in close agreement with the
actual distribution the discrepancy may be huge at the local and
regional level. Recent technological developments like camera trapping
and molecular genetics allow for collecting reliable presence records
that could be used to construct realistic species distribution based on
empirical data and advanced mathematical approaches like MaxEnt. The
current study followed this approach to construct an accurate
distribution of the species in Pakistan. Moreover, movement corridors,
among different landscapes, were also identified through circuit theory.
The probability of habitat suitability, generated from 98 presence
points and 11 environmental variables, scored the snow leopard’s assumed
range in Pakistan, from 0 to 0.97. A large portion of the known range
represented low-quality habitat, including areas in lower Chitral, Swat,
Astore, and Kashmir. Conversely, Khunjerab, Misgar, Chapursan, Qurumber,
Broghil, and Central Karakoram represented high-quality habitats.
Variables with higher contributions in the MaxEnt model were
precipitation during the driest month (34%), annual mean temperature
(19.5%), mean diurnal range of temperature (9.8%), annual precipitation
(9.4%), and river density (9.2). The model was validated through
receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots and defined thresholds.
The average test AUC in Maxent for the replicate runs was 0.933 while
the value of AUC by ROC curve calculated at 0.15 threshold was 1.00.
These validation tests suggested a good model fit and strong predictive
power. The connectivity analysis revealed that the population in the
Hindukush landscape appears to be more connected with the population in
Afghani- stan as compared to other populations in Pakistan. Similarly,
the Pamir-Karakoram population is better connected with China and
Tajikistan, while the Himalayan population was connected with the
population in India. Based on our findings we propose three model
landscapes to be considered under the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem
Protection Program (GSLEP) agenda as regional priority areas, to
safeguard the future of the snow leopard in Pakistan and the region.
These landscapes fall within mountain ranges of the Himalaya, Hindu Kush
and Karakoram-Pamir, respectively. We also identified gaps in the
existing protected areas network and suggest new protected areas in
Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan to protect critical habitats of snow
leopard in Pakistan.

Abstract: The snow leopard is a highly charismatic megafauna that elicits admiration, concern and donations from individuals and NGOs in the West. In its home territories, however, it is a threat to local communities’ livestock and a potential source of income for its pelt and parts. Conservation and study are further challenged by its range; snow leopards traverse the borders separating China, India and ten other countries with long histories of tension with each other as well as internal political and economic struggles. This transnational animal provides an ideal case study for the consideration of transnational conservation science in the recent past.