Webinar – Page 6 – Snow Leopard Network

Snow leopards in Nepal: Satellite Telemetry Update

This webinar shares the latest preliminary findings on collared snow leopards in Nepal. SLN aims to continue to highlight the multiple approaches teams across the range are using to study and conserve snow leopard populations. Nepal was the first country to conduct telemetry work on snow leopards back in early 1980s. This Country Update captures how telemetry continues to be used in the country, now using GPS technology. Our speakers also highlight how telemetry results are being linked to community knowledge and conservation action on the ground.

SLN welcomes Samundra Subba and Sheren Shrestha from WWF Nepal in this further update from teams working in Nepal. Orjan Johansson – SLN Steering Committee member and also a specialist on snow leopard collaring- will be joining us as facilitator. Do join us for this interesting Webinar and the discussion that follows- your views will enrich the session!

About the talks

Ensuring the long term viability of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) across large human dominated landscapes requires an understanding of its spatial ecology and movement behavior. In the first section of the talk, Samundra Subba will present preliminary findings of the first ever GPS telemetry study by the Nepal government in the western and eastern snow leopard landscapes, and supported by WWF. The speakers will give insights into what was found regarding the snow leopard’s spatial range and movement patterns, including transboundary travel to India and China.

In a second section, Sheren Shrestha will describe how the collaring research is blended with community knowlege to strengthen conservation efforts. While modern science and technology has helped us understand the elusive snow leopards better, many conservation solutions find basis in traditional and community knowledge. Sheren will furthermore outline how their project supports the Nepal government to find solutions that benefit both snow leopards and communities in the Himalayas, with focus on Shey Phoksundo National Park in western Nepal.

About our speakers

Samundra Subba is currently working as a Research Officer at WWF Nepal. He has a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology from Lund University, Sweden, and has been working in Nepalese landscape researching and conserving large carnivores – snow leopard and tiger, over the past eight years. During his tenure with WWF, Samundra has supported numerous research interventions on these carnivores, including satellite telemetry of snow leopards in east and west Nepal.

Sheren Shrestha is Senior Program Officer with the Wildlife Programs of WWF Nepal. He has managed the snow leopard conservation program for WWF Nepal since 2016. He has a post-graduate degree in Environmental Sciences, and has previously worked with two premier wildlife organizations in India. His special interest includes human-wildlife conflict management focusing on strengthening community awareness and mobilization. He enjoys writing, traveling, photography, singing-songwriting and making video documentaries on conservation and social issues.

Date/Time: March 17th 2021; 6:30 PM Kathmandu, Nepal

Location: ZOOM, to join this talk, REGISTER HERE

Please note:

If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the Webinar.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.
Please note that the session will be recorded and later featured on the SLN website. If you have concerns about this please let us know.

Snow leopard & Tibetan brown bear conservation and research

In this first webinar of 2021 we travel to the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau with a young team of researchers who are looking at snow leopard conservation from a wider perspective- and considering other large mammals. We are pleased to welcome Charlotte Hacker and Dr. Yunchuan Dai who discuss Tibetan brown bear and snow leopard research and conservation in China. Our speakers give a particular focus to how these carnivores co-exist with humans and varying land use patterns- highlight key conservation messages and learnings.

SLN Webinar: Snow leopard & Tibetan brown bear conservation and research

We are happy to welcome you to our first SLN Webinar for 2021. In 2020 we launched the Webinar series with updates from the range and new directions in snow leopard research and conservation. In 2021 we continue to welcome organisations working on different aspects of snow leopard conservation and individuals at different stages of their career. We also would like to widen the scope of the webinars to feature the diversity of contributors to snow leopard conservation, including community members, young researchers and policy makers. In this first webinar we will travel to the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau with a young team of researchers who are looking at snow leopard conservation from a wider perspective- and considering other large mammals.

We are pleased to welcome Charlotte Hacker and Dr. Yunchuan Dai who will discuss Tibetan brown bear and snow leopard research and conservation in China. Our speakers will give a particular focus to how these carnivores co-exist with humans and varying land use patterns- highlight key conservation messages and learnings.

About the talk

Conflicts between predators and humans are multifaceted and complex, and
remain a large conservation challenge in snow leopard habitat. This talk, led by Charlotte Hacker and Dr. Yunchuan Dai, will focus on their research efforts aimed at better understanding these conflicts, with a focus on the snow leopard and Tibetan brown bear. The webinar will cover the application of how multiple scientific approaches, including molecular diet analysis, social science, and habitat modeling, are used to gain knowledge surrounding livestock loss, how attitudes towards carnivores are shaped, effective mitigation options, and areas of high conflict risk. The presentation will also highlight how these projects were supported by collaborations between organisations.

About our Speakers

Charlotte Hacker is a PhD candidate at Duquesne University and research associate with the Snow Leopard Conservancy. Her work surrounds the use of noninvasive genetic approaches to better understand the population status, genetic structure, and diet of predators, with a focus on snow leopards. Her research aims to build upon current knowledge of snow leopard ecology, taxonomy, and coexistence with humans.

Yunchuan Dai PhD, graduated from the Chinese Academy of Forestry. Currently, he is working as an Associate Research Scientist at the Institute for Ecology and Environmental Resources, Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences. His work surrounds the use of social interviews, ecological modeling and genetic approaches to better understand negative human-wildlife interactions, with a focus on Tibetan brown bears in the Sanjiangyuan region. His research aims to explore the drivers of human-bear conflicts and to propose mitigation measures and protection countermeasures based on the probable drivers and spatial risk to promote peaceful coexistence between herders and brown bears.

Date/Time: Thursday, February 25th, 2021; 8AM EST; 9PM Beijing time

Location: ZOOM, to join this talk, REGISTER HERE

Please note:

If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.

How the Tost mountains, Mongolia became a protected haven for snow leopards

This is a story of protecting the Tost Mountains from being given away under mining licenses. The story had a number of chapters and it’s share of hopes and disappointments. After a long campaign of over 7 years that included research, advocacy and political mobilization a set of mining licenses were finally revoked and Tost was designated as a Nature Reserve for snow leopards in 2018.

Bayara Agvantsaaren, the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation Director starts by talking about the setting. She then shares a first hand account of how snow leopards face a number of emerging threats in Mongolia- in a context of economic needs that continue to pressurize the modern world. Bayara gives us an inside view of her team’s experience in accomplishing this extraordinary achievement in a very challenging setting, drawing on the support and involvement of local people and media. Dr. Charudutt Mishra, the Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust, joins us as discussant. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and thinking about how snow leopard conservation and development can go hand in hand while addressing emerging threats to snow leopards such as mining.

The timing of breeding and independence for snow leopard females and their cubs

This talk is a continuation of our series entitled “Snow Leopard Conversations”. The series aims to showcase the latest science and research related to snow leopards. Dr. Orjan Johannson presents the recent paper entitled “The timing of breeding and independence for snow leopard females and their cubs.” Our SLN Committee Member – Dr. Sandro Lovari – facilitates the session. The full article can be accessed through the following link.

Using a genetic lens to understand endangered species

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan for this thematic discussion on how genetics can be brought to bear more effectively on specific aspects of snow leopard conservation. Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan starts by exploring the reasons species go extinct, and describes how genetic methods and data can inform our understanding of species’ futures. Uma gives some examples of her work with tigers, and summarise their knowledge on snow leopard conservation genetics, including work to estimate snow leopard population size. Finally, she describes ongoing efforts (in collaboration with scientists at Stanford University) to understand more about snow leopards globally and locally. Dr. Byron Weckworth, Director of Panthera’s Snow Leopard and Conservation Genetic programs, joins us as principal discussant.

Snow leopard research and conservation in the Russian Federation

Russia is host to a unique snow leopard population found at the most northern latitudes of the range, in areas largely bordering Mongolia. The county is at the same time estimated to hold 2% of the global snow leopard population. During the Webinar our guests- Alexander Karnaukhov and Tatiana Ivanitskaya– share insights into WWF-Russia’s snow leopard conservation program of the Altai-Sayan Eco-region. They describe the main threat to the snow leopard in Russia– which is considered to be snaring. Poaching of other species, such as musk deer, with metal wire snares threatens the snow leopard. The team showcase a range of tools and techniques to monitor snow leopard populations in the area. They also share with us insights into WWF-Russia’s conservation and communication strategy.

The global status of snow leopard threats and opportunities for conservation

Our SLN Steering Committee member – Dr. Juan Li – gives a brief overview presentation on the global status of snow leopard threats and opportunities for conservation. Dr. Juan Li has been a leading figure in carrying out global assessments of snow leopard responses to climate change, predicting global distributions and identifying key geographic areas for conservation priority. This will set the scene for highlighting the need for continued global collaborations in snow leopard conservation.

We then showcase how SLN is working towards contributing to global conservation efforts and supporting GSLEP efforts. Dr. Koustubh Sharma from the GSLEP Program and key members of SLN’s Steering Committee also join us to highlight the SLN-GSLEP partnership.

Snow leopard research and conservation in the Russian Federation

The Snow Leopard Network is pleased to invite you to our sixth SLN webinar of 2020. We will travel to Russia and hear an update on WWF-Russia’s recent work on snow leopard conservation.

Russia is host to a unique snow leopard population found at the most northern latitudes of the range, in areas largely bordering Mongolia. The county is at the same time estimated to hold 2% of the global snow leopard population. During the Webinar our special guests- Alexander Karnaukhov and Tatiana Ivanitskaya– will share insights into WWF-Russia’s snow leopard conservation program of the Altai-Sayan Eco-region. This Webinar will be an opportunity to build on our earlier country updates and discuss best practices for conservation and monitoring of snow leopards. These country updates are giving us a remarkable set of pictures of different efforts being launched independently from different sides of the range.

About the talk: Our guests will take us to the Altai-Sayan Eco-region of the Russian Federation. They will describe the main threat to the snow leopard in Russia- which is considered to be snaring. Poaching of other species, such as musk deer, with metal wire snares threatens the snow leopard. They will also share with us insights into WWF-Russia’s conservation strategy, including working with local hunters. The team will showcase a range of tools and techniques to monitor snow leopard populations in the area.

About the Speakers: Alexander Karnaukhov is a Senior Project coordinator of the Altai-Sayan office, WWF- Russia. Tatiana Ivanitskaya is a Press-Officer of the Altai-Sayan office, WWF-Russia

Date/Time: 10:00 am Moscow time, Tuesday, November 10th (Please log into the meeting 5 min early to set up)

Location: ZOOM, to join this talk REGISTER HERE

Please note:

If you have never used Zoom before, we recommend that you try the link 10 minutes before the start of the lecture.
Please feel free to write questions in the comment area and there will be time for questions/discussion at the end of the talk.

Not all large carnivores are the same: predators, prey and the snow leopard

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Francesco Ferretti and Dr. Sandro Lovari who explore a number of hypothesises on how snow leopards interact with prey and other carnivores.

Access to adequate large prey and avoidance of competition with larger predators are two major determinants of behaviour and ecology of carnivores. Moreover, predators and prey are constantly involved in an evolutionary arms race, aiming at maximising prey capture rate and minimising predation, respectively. Man-induced habitat manipulation and prey depletion alter these natural dynamics. The way these factors interact is crucial to enhance conservation of large carnivores.

This talk combines recently published and ongoing meta-analyses on food habits of large terrestrial carnivores and studies on predator-prey interactions, to explore the role of prey diversity in influencing carnivore coexistence as well as favouring their persistence. In particular, implications for a better understanding of the ecology of the snow leopard and its interactions with competitors and prey are discussed.