Category: Science and Research

From zeenews.com:

Thimphu, May 20: With tigers and wild dogs encroaching habitat of snow leopards and little information available about their spread and abundance, scientists in Bhutan are mulling genetic fingerprinting to know more about this elusive animal.

The technique, used along with a modern graph calculation system, will provide a more scientific estimate of the number, spread and abundance of snow leopards in Bhutan, said animal biologist Tsewang.

“To track these animals by genetic fingerprinting, we will collect their ‘scat’ or faeces and analyse their DNA for more information on them,” he said.

Tsewang has already gone ‘scat’ hunting and come up with some interesting findings. “In Bartshong-Lingshi under Jigme Dorji National Park we were told by officials that stray dogs were found to be encroaching in the habitat of the snow leopard.”

According to villagers, these dogs have also been known to corner leopards and steal their kill with ease. Authorities say tigers in the country are being found at altitudes so high that they are overlapping the habitat of the snow leopard.

According to Tsewang, the best places for snow leopard scat and signs are off the beaten track and deeper into the forest. “These leopards prefer places like steep cliffs at an elevation, bases of cliffs, narrow bases and ridges. They sometimes even come as low as the river when travelling from one place to another,” he said.

The study, when completed, will also show whether snow leopards are using the biological corridors.

“We’ll determine this by seeing if the gene pools are mixing in the different parks of Bhutan,” said Tsewang.

Bureau Report

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=444055&sid=ENV&ssid=26

In Memoriam

In recognition of the her pivotal role in bringing the plight of the snow leopard into the world’s consciousness and in championing broad conservation efforts to save the species across its range, the participants of this conference wish to honor Helen Freeman by dedicating the outcomes and stipulated conservation actions to her memory.

Participants

This conference was attended by representatives from eleven snow leopard range countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Representatives from six non-range countries also participated. The participants agreed upon the following vision and resolutions.

A Vision for Snow Leopards over the next century
A world where snow leopards and their wild prey thrive in healthy mountain ecosystems across all major ecological settings^a of their entire range^b, and where snow leopards are revered as unique ecological, economic, aesthetic and spiritual assets.

^a Defined as: Altai-Sayan, Trans-Altai – Alashan Gobi, Tian Shan, Pamir, Hindu-Kush, Karakorum, Himalayas, Hengduan Mountains, and Tibetan Plateau
^b As defined by the potential range analysis conducted in a workshop during this conference. Resolutions

1. All range countries should expedite development of a Snow Leopard Action Plan, or implement existing plans to the fullest extent. A draft plan should be developed within 12 months and be based on the aforementioned range-wide vision, and set a framework that addresses the human-snow leopard interface looking at economic, cultural, moral, aesthetic and ethical issues. Plans should also take into account successful models from within and outside range states for designing and implementing conservation, research and monitoring programs for snow leopards while supporting local peoples who are maintaining the natural heritage of snow leopards and their mountain ecosystems.

2. Each country will designate a national snow leopard focal point from a relevant institution to coordinate with the Snow Leopard Network and other focal points for the exchange of information at the national and international level.

3. Range state governments will develop mechanisms (e.g., Memoranda of Understanding) to promote transboundary cooperation on matters such as trade, research and management relevant to snow leopard conservation that include, inter alia, the impacts of climate change on distribution and long-term survival of snow leopards, and where possible incorporate positive actions within conservation programs (e.g ,carbon neutral projects).

The international conference on Range-wide Conservation Planning for Snow Leopards held in Beijing, China, from 7 – 11 March, was deemed a major success by the conference organizers which included the Panthera Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), Snow Leopard Network (SLN), and the Chinese Institute of Zoology. Conference co-Chair Dr. Tom McCarthy (SLT) labeled it “A watershed event in our common effort to save snow leopards.”

Leading conservationists and researchers, as well as government officials from 11 of 12 snow leopard range countries, were among the more than 100 conference attendees.

Founder and Executive Chairman of Panthera, Tom Kaplan, announced that organization’s commitment to an unprecedented range-wide effort to conserve snow leopards. Panthera’s offer of partnerships and collaboration, backed by substantial resources, caught the attention of the audience. The magnitude of the task ahead was echoed in keynote addresses by Dr. George Schaller (WCS), one of the first people to ever study the elusive snow leopard, and Dr. Urs Breitenmoser, co-Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, who made it clear that saving the big cats would not be easy and would require substantial effort of all concerned.

Unlike many conferences which showcase the plight of an imperiled species but take few positive steps toward their conservation, the gathering in Beijing included several work sessions that sought specific results which would be immediately applicable to preserving snow leopards across their central Asian range. The first two days were dedicated to mapping the collective knowledge of 30 experts occurrence and distribution. Led by Dr. Eric Sanderson (WCS) and Dr. David Mallon (SLN), participants worked in regional teams to map the known and suspected range of the cats and identify critical conservation units within the range. Despite past efforts to depict exactly where snow leopards can still be found, maps of their range were based on habitat models and scant data, much of it anecdotal. The map created during this conference represents the collective field data of the world’s most knowledgeable scientists, which is unprecedented for this species.

Invited speakers then shared expertise on successful conservation methods and best practices in research methods, and country teams reported on the status of snow leopard action plans across the region. The participants were then charged with using the new range maps and targeted conservation units to develop country specific actions that should be undertaken in the next several years if snow leopards are to be saved. Each country’s plan was designed with the following shared vision in mind.

A Vision for Snow Leopards over the next century:

A world where snow leopards and their wild prey thrive in healthy mountain ecosystems across all major ecological settings of their entire range, and where snow leopards are revered as unique ecological, economic, and spiritual assets.

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A full report, inclusive of all country-specific actions and the new range map, will soon be available from the co-organizers and will also be found on the Snow Leopard Network website: www.snowleopardnetwork.org