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SLN Training Initiative – Ungulate Surveys – Module 2

The Snow Leopard Network is launching its first on line research and conservation training course. These consist of a series of modules, each over a one month period, in which participants build their skills and knowledge on a range of critical snow leopard related conservation tools. Do join us!

Our first set of topics centers on the idea of a holistic approach for snow leopard practitioners- from survey methods to community conservation approaches. The idea is for these to be as practical as possible, explicitly designed, for teams on the ground. The first set of Modules will cover topics that include: Camera Trapping surveys (Module 1); Prey Surveys (Module 2); Community Conservation approaches (Module 3); and Socio-economic Assessments (Module 4). See more details here.

Each Module will be delivered over a one month period and members can apply to specific Modules depending on your interest. Teaching methods will be a mix of online and distance learning; all will be open access. Our trainers are drawn from the Snow Leopard Network, drawing on their extensive knowledge and experience. We are very appreciative of their finding time to join us in this effort and we look forward to members taking advantage of this exceptional opportunity.  

Today we are pleased to invite SLN members to apply and take part in Module 2 of this training initiative- which will take place in August. Module 2 will focus on surveys for assessing ungulate populations (snow
leopard prey). The application will be open for future Modules one month prior to their start, so please stay tuned.

Module 2: Studying the Mountain Monarchs of High Asia.

Course Content

Asia’s mountain ungulates- also known as the Mountain Monarchs of high Asia- play an important role in maintaining ecosystems by influencing vegetation structure and nutrient cycling. These include Argali (Ovis ammon), Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur), Asiatic Ibex (Capra sibirica), Urial (Ovis orientalis) and Markhor (Capra falconeri). However, owing to their remote mountainous habitats and associated challenges in sampling, there is a lack of information regarding their abundance, population trends and ecology. There is a need for more information about the population status of these ungulates, which carries special significance in the protection of the snow leopard across its range. Our Module 2 aims to equip participants with the knowledge and tools to plan and carry out robust mountain ungulate surveys using the Double-observer Method. We will also dive into understanding the fascinating ecology of these species based on the latest research. The module will be divided into 4 parts and cover key concepts from planning surveys, conducting them, analysing data, and using outcomes for conservation action, publication and/or policy. Alongside we will have fascinating talks by subject experts, sharing their experiences and outputs. This is critical as conservation status assessment of any species requires rigorous monitoring of their abundances, which done over time, can provide knowledge of population trends.

Participants will be expected to have the Software R
(https://www.r-project.org/) and RStudio downloaded and setup on
computer. Additionally we recommend the installation of Google Earth Pro and/or other GIS software such as QGIS (https://www.qgis.org/en/site/).

Meet the Trainers

This module has been co-created by a team of researchers and practitioners from across the snow leopard range, including India, Pakistan, Mongolia and China. The live training sessions will be led by a subset of this team. Additional special guests may also be invited to share their expertise.

Munib Khanyari is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Bristol and Oxford University in the UK. He works on understanding factors that affect mountain ungulate populations in Central and South Asia. 

Hussain Ali, is the Regional Project Manager for the Pakistan Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Program (PSLEP) and a Manager with Snow Leopard Foundation- Pakistan.

Purevjav (Puji) Lkhagvajav is a Research and Monitoring Managers for the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation, Mongolia. She has over 15 years of working in snow leopard conservation and research in Mongolia.

Chagsadulam (Chagsaa) Odonjavkhlan is a PhD Candidate with Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation, Mongolia and has been studying Argali and Ibex in the Tost mountains of Mongolia.

Lingyun Xiao is currently a Postdoc research fellow at the Peking University and scientific consultant of the ShanShui Conservation Center, China. She completed her PhD on understanding grassland, ungulate and snow leopard dependence in 2017.

Together the module co-creators have worked to protect and studied mountain ungulates including Argali, Asiatic Ibex, Blue Sheep, Markhor and Urial across India, Pakistan, Mongolia, China and Kyrgyzstan.

Criteria for participation
•      Snow Leopard Network Member
•      Experience or willingness to work on mountain ungulate and snow leopard conservation
•      Confirmed availability to attend all the four online seminars of a given module
•      Number of participants is limited to 40
•      Priority will be given to participants from snow leopard range
countries

Planned Schedule
•       2 hour online Zoom Seminars take place every Wednesday of the month, August
2020 (4 Seminars; Aug 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th) at 14:00 Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstan time
•       Additional group work, assignments or readings are likely to be
organized by the trainers
•       Please note we expect all participants to attend the complete set of
Wednesday Seminars as they are interconnected and build on each other
•       Details of each specific Seminar topic will be shared approximately 5 days beforehand; including any expected preparations by participants.

Deadline for Applications
•      Friday, July 15th, 2020. Please note places are limited so please do
not delay in applying.
•     We are now closed for Application. Please apply for Module 3 which will be open on August 1st. 

 

Publication Alert – Two Books added to the Bibliography

We have added two books to our bibliography.

1. Karnaukhov А. S., Korablev М. P., Kuksin А. N., Malykh S. V., Poyarkov А. D., Spitsyn S. V., Chistopolova М. D., Hernandez-Blanco J. A. Snow Leopard Population Monitoring Guidebook. – WWF. Krasnoyarsk. 2020 – 164 pp. (you can download it by the link: https://wwf.ru/en/resources/publications/booklets/materialy-k-rukovodstvu-po-monitoringu-sostoyaniya-populyatsii-snezhnogo-barsa/) – English version

URL:https://snowleopardnetwork.org/bibliography/Karnaukhov_et_al_2020.pdf

2. Карнаухов А. С. Материалы к руководству по мониторингу состояния популяции снежного барса / А. С. Карнаухов, М. П. Кораблев, А. Н. Куксин, С. В. Малых, А. Д. Поярков, С. В. Спицын, М. Д. Чистополова, Х. А. Эрнандес-Бланко. – Красноярск: Все мирный фонд дикой природы (WWF), 2020. – 168 с. (you can dowlload it by the link: https://wwf.ru/resources/publications/booklets/materialy-k-rukovodstvu-po-monitoringu-sostoyaniya-populyatsii-snezhnogo-barsa/) – Russian version

URL:https://snowleopardnetwork.org/bibliography/Karnaukhov_et_al_2020_ru.pdf

Snow Leopard Conversations – Paper Discussion with Dr. Ranjini Murali

Ecosystem service dependence in livestock and crop-based production systems in Asia’s high mountains.

Our first ever paper discussion was held on 22 June, 2020 with Dr. Ranjini Murali. Ranjini discussed how local communities are integral partners in snow leopard conservation. This research points to ways that ecosystem service based approaches can be applied for snow leopard conservation. For example, we can work with local communities, identify and strengthen management practices that prevent overharvest of provisioning services. Or, we could develop market-based mechanisms that ensure investments back into snow leopard landscapes, since ecosystem services heavily subside the outputs like cashmere, from these landscapes.

We wish to thank Ranjini for taking the time to do this and also wish to thank our participants for joining this discussion.  We hope to have more such interactive sessions in the future.

Publication Alert – New Article to the Bibliography

Title: Ecosystem service dependence in livestock and crop-based production systems in Asia’s high mountains.

Authors: Murali,R., Ikhagvajav, P., Amankul, V., Jumabay, K., Sharma, K., Bhatnagar, Y. V., Suryawanshi, K., Mishra, C

Abstract:  Globally, in semi-arid and arid landscapes, there is an ongoing transition from livestock-production systems to crop-production systems, and in many parts of Asia’s arid mountains, mining for minerals is also increasing. These changes are accompanied by a change in the generation and quality of ecosystem services (ES), which can impact human well-being. In this study, to better understand the impacts of such transitions, we quantified ES in two crop-based and three livestock-based production systems in the arid and semi-arid landscapes of the High Himalaya and Central Asia, specifically in the Indian Himalaya, Kyrgyz Tien Shan, and Mongolian Altai. Our results showed 1) high economic dependence (3.6–38 times the respective annual household income) of local farmers on provisioning ES, with the economic value of ES being greater in livestock-production systems (7.4–38 times the annual household income) compared to crop-production systems (3.6–3.7 times the annual household income); 2) ES input into cashmere production, the main commodity from the livestock-production systems, was 13–18 times greater than the price of cashmere received by the farmer; and 3) in the livestock production systems affected by mining, impacts on ES and quality of life were reported to be negative by majority of the respondents. We conclude that livestock-based systems may be relatively more vulnerable to degrading impacts of mining and other ongoing developments due to their dependence on larger ES resource catchments that tend to have weaker land tenure and are prone to fragmentation. In contrast to the general assumption of low value of ES in arid and semi-arid landscapes due to relatively low primary productivity, our study underscores the remarkably high importance of ES in supporting local livelihoods.

URL:  https://snowleopardnetwork.org/bibliography/Murali_et_al_2020.pdf

SLN is inviting you to meet authors of new publications uploaded to the Snow Leopard Bibliography. These sessions are intended to allow members to discuss the subject matter of the paper with the author and other SLN members. Please join us for the first “Snow Leopard Conversation” Session with Dr. Ranjini Murali

Snow Leopard Conversations – Paper Discussion with Ranjini Murali on 22 June, 2020 at 12:30 pm IST

Please click on the link below to register: REGISTER 

 

SLN Training Initiative: Snow Leopard Camera Trapping

 

Module 1

Course Content

Reliable assessments of snow leopard populations are key for their conservation. Camera trapping is state-of-the-art approach to monitor rare and elusive species, such as snow leopards. Our Module 1 aims to equip participants with the knowledge and tools to plan and carry out a rigorous camera trap survey for assessing snow leopard population abundance/density. We will be sharing the latest recommended methods adopted by the PAWS GSLEP Programme. The module will cover key concepts underlying spatial capture recapture methods.

Participants will be expected to have the Software R (https://www.r-project.org/) and RStudio downloaded and setup on computer, Digital maps of your study area to plan your hypothetical survey (Elevation Raster layer).

Meet the Trainers

Dr. Koustubh Sharma: Koustubh is the International Coordinator of the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program and a Senior Regional Ecologist with the Snow Leopard Trust. He, along with Justine help coordinate Population Assessment of the World’s Snow Leopards (PAWS) as a GSLEP initiative. He holds a PhD in Wildlife Zoology from Mumbai University, and a Masters degree in Physics. He has undergone training on spatial capture recapture methods at the Centre for Research in Ecological and Environmental Research (CREEM), University of St. Andrews, and on advanced applications of ArcGIS by ESRI. He has been involved with colleagues and partners in developing training tool-kits and delivering training workshops for a suite of ecological methods relevant for snow leopard research and conservation.

Dr. Justine Shanti Alexander: Justine is the Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Network. She provides technical support to the world population assessment of snow leopards (PAWS) and other efforts related to camera trapping. Justine also acts as the Regional Ecologist for the Snow Leopard Trust and supports research and conservation work across the snow leopard range. She holds a PhD in snow leopard population assessments from Beijing Forestry University and a MSc in Conservation Science from Imperial College London. 

Criteria for participation

  • Snow Leopard Network Member
  • Experience of working on snow leopard conservation or concrete plans to be involved in such efforts
  • Confirmed availability to attend all the four online seminars of a given module
  • Number of participants is limited to 20-30
  • Priority will be given to participants from snow leopard range countries

Planned Schedule

  • 2 hour online Zoom Seminars take place every Monday of the month, July 2020 (4 Seminars; July 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th) at 14:00 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan time
  • Additional group work, assignments or readings are likely to be organized by the trainers
  • Please note we expect all participants to attend the complete set of Monday Seminars as they are interconnected and build on each other
  • Details of each specific Seminar topic will be shared approximately 5 days beforehand; including any expected preparations by participants.

Deadline for Applications

  • Friday, June 24th, 2020. Please note places are limited so please do not delay in applying.
  • To apply please check the Criteria for participation and complete the following application; https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/rtJRf068

Kindly note these trainings are free to participants. Also that the trainers are sharing their time and knowledge with us as a gesture to the Network and to snow leopards!

Ismail Shariff – My Obsession with Snow Leopards

Snow Leopard, Shann, Shen, Irbis,… Whatever you may want to call them, as soon as I hear the name, the first thing that comes to mind is that long fluffy tail. It was the first time I ever saw a ghost, the ghost of the mountains, and I fell in love with it; that splendid tail, blue eyes, thick fur and a true blue cat attitude.

The fact that it is very difficult to photograph, was not the only thing to have drawn me towards the Snow Leopards. It was while researching about them, after seeing a picture by Dhritiman Mukherjee in July 2012, that I found it had this aura of mysticism and secrecy around it. Snow Leopard was a being of legendary stories and sightings; to be blessed by God to be able to see it in a speck, leave alone photograph it. It had this magic around it about how it disappears from right in front of you, perhaps never to be found again. The saintly strength with which it can glide over the snow and climb mountains in a jiffy; and also the fact that not much was known and/or documented about it.

 

All of the above piqued my interest and the mountaineer, photographer and swashbuckler in me gave in to test not just my luck, but both my mental and physical limits as well.

For those of you who don’t know me yet, I am Ismail Shariff, a Computer Science engineer with a Master’s in IT Project Management and Entrepreneurship from Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. After pursuing my studies in Budapest, I moved to Paris to work there for 2.5 years before wildlife photography took over me and I am currently;

    • An internationally published and exhibited Wildlife and Nature Photographer
    • Featured photographer on the Snow Leopard Network’s website
    • Being a conservation photographer, I partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust on a number of projects including SLT’s annual Snow Leopard calendar
    • A certified Fine Art Printmaker
    • And a bespoke photography expedition leader, concentrating mainly on Snow Leopards and other wild cats of the world.

And what I intend to achieve with all of this, is to show the world the amazing nature and its beings created by God, and to help in the conservation of the habitats of threatened species. Coming back to my obsession for Snow Leopards, my first and still the most memorable and favourite sighting, was in Hemis National Park, Ladakh, India. It was a male walking on the top edge of the mountain opposite to ours. It was so far that even after zooming in 100%, it was still a speck in my picture.

In hindsight, I feel all our experiences in life are but lessons, preparing us for what is to come. And on this first expedition I learnt about determination and never giving up, however tough it might be. I met a British gentleman of 84 years, who taught me this by example. He was supposedly coming to see the Snow Leopard for over a decade and this was his maiden sighting along with mine. And believe you me, he just looked into the spotting scope for a whole minute, moved back and said “Now I can stop coming”. That just blew my mind and for reasons still unexplainable, after that day it kind of became my goal to know more about it; for I saw the power it holds to make people dedicate over a decade only to have a glimpse of them. I had been photographing the big cats of India for over 5 years then, but felt, this trekking in the snowy mountains, in freezing temperatures, sleeping under the stars in a tent with just a hot water bottle for warmth; somehow gave me more satisfaction.

Since then, I have been obsessed with Snow Leopards and have seen, photographed, filmed and lead photography expeditions for Indian and European companies in Hemis National Park in Ladakh, Ulley in Ladakh, Kibber in Himachal Pradesh, and Altai Mountains in Mongo- lia. The more I see them, that much more I want to see them, and that much more I fall in love with them, and hence, that much more I want to help in protecting and conserving their habitat and prey-base for their survival.

Photography and Tourism ethics:

As a dear friend of mine put it – “Ethics means moral principles, or moral code or behaviour. Especially when it comes to wildlife, shouldn’t that be common sense – “to keep distance, to not instigate, to not be in private space of any animal or bird, to keep calm and not make noise, so as to not to disturb them”

I couldn’t agree more, but alas, so is not the case with quite some wildlife photographers. And it’s not the case of country, but I have seen it in India, Malaysia, USA, Mongolia and Europe. Let me also come clean here and be upfront on this, for when I started photographing wildlife in 2007, even I went on elephant safaris and paid a little extra to mahouts to get a closer picture of a Tiger in Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, but thankfully and gratefully, its just been about that much, since, and the credit for that goes to my friends whom I would accompany for these wildlife safaris, for they never encouraged any such behaviour.

But what you see increasingly within snow leopard habitats is bewildering.

If we want to summarise the do’s and dont’s, then this is what I feel could make a good difference. It would be great to hear from others on anything more/else that we can do to make a difference for both photographers/tourists and the locals.

Maintain distance! Always!

Every being, including us, has our own personal space, intruding upon which, gets us agitated and even angry, and we all have dif- ferent ways of handling it. For most animals, the typical response if you get too close, is to either run away or literally ‘take matters in their hands (or claws and teeth)’. And what’s the fun in disturbing them so that they run away.

If you maintain the distance, not only will they hang around for a bit longer, giving you the opportunity to observe them and their behaviour, but if they get comfortable with your presence, they might just go about doing their usual thing, which gives you more to learn about them from.

Do not disturb the animals or birds!

Be it talking loudly, or trying to get attention of the being by mocking sounds and/or throwing things at them; its a strict NO! Be patient and wait, and you might get a much better moment than you have anticipated.

Try to stay away from baiting.

I do understand that some uber rare species like the Siberian Tiger or Amur Leopard cannot be observed/photographed without it, but baiting makes the mammals get used to it if done frequently, which alters their natural behaviour of predation. Failing to find these baits at a later point in time might even provoke them to attack the cattle, and in cases of big cats, like the Tigers and Leopards, they might even attack humans in desperation.

Also, when you book your expeditions or tour, do inquire about the credibility of the home stay owner, your tour leader, and the lo- cal support there. Just because they have been going there or leading expeditions or have a home stay there for a long time, doesn’t mean that all their practices are ethical. If you know people who have gone with them, talk to them and ask more details.

No drones in national parks!

Its strictly not allowed by the forest department in just about all the national parks and wildlife regions/reserves in India. If you DO want to fly them, make sure you have written permissions and approvals from the relevant forest offices.

Considering that most of us travel far and wide to reach such beautiful places, why make it a hassle and waste precious time in dealing with why, where, how and landing up in the station for a few hours; and also paying hefty fines and getting the drones con- fiscated.

No Camera traps!

No rocket science here too. No camera traps without prior written permission from the relevant forest offices.

When the animal/bird comes close.

There have been many instances where the animal or bird you are observing/photographing gets interested in you and comes closer to take a look-see. When that happens, please stay calm and restrict your movements to bare minimum and as gentle as you can. Getting excited to see them come close to you, might just startle them, and they might end up running/flying away or take you as a threat and attack you in defence.

Lastly, speak up!

Speak up wherever you see something wrong or not-right happening. Oppose it at the least, even if you have to submit and succumb to it. If we don’t stand up for what is right even vocally, then it becomes a norm, and at times even the guides and naturalists think it to be THE way of going about it.

Hopefully this forced reset that we are in, gives us all a positive perspective on how to take on life henceforth, and bring most positivity on field and conservation results. With all the new ‘necessary developments’ for which we are stripping out our natural resources, its still just a positive dream!

Ismail Shariff ismail@ismailshariff.com

insta:@ismailshariff

Whitley Award Awarded to SLN Member

In May, the prestigious Whitley Award was awarded to SLN member Dr. Muhammad Ali Nawaz for his work on snow leopard conservation in northern Pakistan.

Kashif Syed, Communications Coordinator of the Snow Leopard Foundation, distributed the following press release:

London- UK, Islamabad-Pakistan:

HRH The Princess Royal presented a Whitley Award, a prestigious
international nature conservation prize to Dr Muhammad Ali Nawaz, at a
ceremony in the Royal Geographical Society, London, attended by over 550
guests including Sir David Attenborough. Ali, an educationist, researcher
and conservationist from Pakistan, has been honoured for his efforts to
protect the endangered snow leopard in the mountains of northern Pakistan.
This year’s Whitley Awards — often referred to as the “Green Oscars” — has
been given to seven conservationists chosen from a pool of over 120
applicants from 53 countries for their “innovative conservation projects”.
Presented annually since 1994, the Whitley Awards are given to individuals
in recognition of “their achievements in nature conservation.”

Based at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Ali has established snow leopard
program in Pakistan, which is a unique research and conservation initiative
in the country. The snow leopard program is a partnership initiative between
the Snow Leopard Foundation, Federal Ministry of Climate Change, provincial
Wildlife Departments, and local communities. Snow leopards are considered
critically endangered in Pakistan where Ali is working in the
Himalaya-Karakoram-Pamir-Hindukush mountain complex to conserve the species.
Threatened by poaching, habitat degradation and subsequent decline of
natural prey, snow leopards are sometimes killed by herders in retaliation
to livestock predation. This loss to herders’ livelihoods can be the
equivalent of a month’s salary, but through scientific research and
introduction of innovative measures that buffer against livestock losses and
increase tolerance, Ali is reducing human-wildlife conflict. Besides this,
the snow leopard program has generated unprecedented scientific information
on the unique ecosystem of this mountain complex, through state of the art
research tools. The program is nurturing young ecologists to build
country’s capacity in field research and prepare next-generation
conservationists.

At an awards ceremony each winner received £35,000 (~$50,700) in project
funding. The award money will help the conservationists scale up their work
to conserve some of the planet’s most endangered species and iconic places.
With his Whitley Award Ali will bring together people, NGOs and government
in a unified effort to develop a multi-stakeholder strategy for 25,000 km2
of this mountainous habitat. This will be Pakistan’s first landscape-level
strategy for snow leopard conservation and will be used as a model to guide
future conservation planning in the country. The project will train 50
wildlife managers, whilst engaging with 6,000 herders to enable the
co-existence of communities and carnivores. Ali’s work represents one of the
first steps towards the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection
Programme’s (GSLEP) goal to secure 23 important snow leopard habitats by
2020.

News , picture, & Videos can be find at:

SLF Pakistan Twitter: https://twitter.com/SLFPakistan

SLF Pakistan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slfpak

SLF Pakistan YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfwgy6zTMFxZ2lqHCI9xQtg

Whitley Fund Sources:

All Photographs of Whitley Awards:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105548002819098368093

All Video / Short Documentary on Whitley YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/user/DwallisWFN/videos