Radio collar unfolding mysteries of snow leopard, Chitral District, Pakistan

Sunday, March 20, 2011

PESHAWAR: The joint venture of Wildlife department and some international organizations to tie satellite radio collar to a snow leopard in Chitral district provided unique opportunity to researchers to explore and study the obscure habits of rare big cat.

“Snow leopard is considered as cryptic in nature because the animal resides in one of the harshest and most inaccessible mountainous areas due to which it was almost impossible for wildlife biologist to explore its life,” said Muhammad Ali, deputy conservator, Wildlife Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Talking to APP, Muhammad Ali said the attempt to tie up satellite collar by Wildlife department, Global Environment Facility (GEF) and International Snow Leopard Trust provided a base to biologists to study and unfold the mysteries shrouding the life and habit of this elusive wild specie.

This obscure nature of the creature has led to it being labelled as the “Imperiled Phantom” by eminent wildlife biologists, remarked Muhammad Ali.

It was a first ever successful endeavor that a snow leopard was trapped in the mountainous Chiltral district and tied up with a satellite collar. Earlier, he said, attempts were made in India and Nepal, but results were not satisfactory. However now the mystery is uncovering with the passage of time and the data collected through satellite collar has provided opportunity to the biologists to learn about the snow leopard and take measures for its conservation and preservation.

The deputy conservator said snow leopard is a top predator and its existence ensures that a strong eco system is intact. The biologists, he continued, wanted to conserve snow leopard to ensure existence of strong eco system and if this rare specie become extinct, it will be a great damage to natural system of existence of human being and other species.

He said the study in Chitral district informed biologist about the range of snow leopard in Chitral and adjacent Afghanistan areas. Now we are aware that where the snow leopard can be found during winter and summer seasons.

Furthermore, he added, the attempt of exploring snow leopard life encouraged the researcher and they made second attempt in Mangolio and got more data and information.

Similarly, three snow leopards were snapped in a single shot at the Khunjerab National Park (KNP). This took place during a 450 nights’ camera trapping session through November and December last year.

In addition to camera trapping an area greater than 1, 400 square kilometres was scanned during occupancy surveys and 150 faecal samples were collected for genetic analysis.

Once data analysis is completed, the study will provide more reliable estimates of snow leopards besides highlighting existing management and monitoring limitations which will ultimately help in better managing park resources in the long run.

Wildlife official expressed the hope that soon the obscure life of snow leopard will become open to the biologists and better measures could easily be adopted for conservation of top predator of the ecosystem.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=37142&Cat=7&dt=3/20/2011

Ignored management issues in the Khunjerab National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Hussain Ali
PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi/Snow Leopard Foundation

Khunjerab National Park (KNP) is situated in the extreme North of the Pakistan and lies between 36o North and 75oEast. Its area is 226,913 ha. It was established in 1975, on the recommendations of famous zoologist George Schaller, with Marco polo sheep as flag species. At that time Marco polo sheep were present in two pockets within the park, one at the zero point (being an area of permanent presence) while, the second habitat of the Marco Polo sheep was erchanaiNalla where it had seasonal presence (generally in May-October during lambing). In 1969, the government of Pakistan made an agreement with the Chinese Govt. for the construction of a road along the historical Silk Route. The construction of this road (Karakorum Highway-KKH) started in 1969 and completed in 1979.

Before the construction of the Karakoram Highway only local people especially Mirs (Kings) of Hunza were involved in hunting of Marco Polo sheep. However, the situation got worst during the late 1960s and early 1970s due to increased human interference, especially by the people who took part in the survey and the construction of the Karakoram Highway. It is reported that, they were not hunting Marco Polo sheep only for sport, but also to feed their men (Rasool, 1990). The construction of the KKH increased access of visitor to KNP, which contributed to poaching and further decline in the population of the Marco Polo Sheep. Consequently, today presence of the Marco Polo Sheep is confined to the Kerchanai Nalla only.

Nevertheless, the establishment of the park and continuous efforts of the KNP administration contributed to a drastic decline in poaching incidences in the recent past. However, current renovation and expansion work on the KKH, has introduced new challenges for the park after 40 years. As a part of ongoing research project by the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) in KNP, the SLF team spent a substantial time in KNP in Nov-December 2010, which allowed us to make observations on issues currently faced by the park. Though the poaching incidences are pretty controlled these days, we observed following emerging issues:

1: Disturbance due to the contraction work: Approximately 66 km of KKH falls inside the Park and hundreds of labors with heavy machinery are working inside the park, including a large residential base camp. The presence of hundreds of people along with engineering machinery and vehicles is causing disturbance to the animals, particularly when wildlife cross the roads at or comes to river for drinking water. It is reported that when wildlife comes to river sometimes labor harass them by through stones. No environmental management system was observed to be in place; neither construction workers were trained on how to work in a sensitive environment.

2: Lack of Waste Management System: The residential camps of the construction company lack a proper waste management system as a result there is dumps of garbage near the camps and along the road. This attitude is totally inimical to the national park.

Figure 1: Garbage dumping along the Chinese Camps at KNP.

3: Hunting of Wildlife for Food: As the Chinese workers eat all kinds of animals so every available animal in the park present an attractive food for them, which is a likely threat to the wildlife if an environmental management system is not in place. We did not observe any signs of hunting by gun or explosives except. We however located traps which were set for capturing golden marmot.

Figure 2: Trap set to catch the Golden Marmot.

4: Lack of Traffic Management System: Cargo containers and the passenger buses moves through the park, and the Karakoram Highway remains busy from May to December. It is reported by game watchers that vehicle drivers blow horns or chase animals seen along the road. This element might be contributing to continuous stress on the animals, and avoidance of elusive species.

Figure 4: The copper wire that forms knots.

5: Left Over Wires: Few years back there was an active telecommunication line which was being used as a source of communication between Pakistan and China. This line is neither functional anymore nor maintained. Consequently, it has fallen on the ground and remains unattended. These wires have made knots in which the animals may get trapped.

Suggested Management Measures:
1. The road construction company should develop an environmental management system, if it did not exist before, addressing issues of waste management, traffic management, and precautions about working in sensitive environments, following EPA guidelines. This environmental management system should be strictly implemented and monitored by the GB Forest and Wildlife Department and other stakeholders.
2. The KNP directorate should implement a system of waste management and tourism management in the park.
3. All left over wires, equipment and nonfunctional infrastructure need to be removed.

Literature cited:
Rasool, G. 1990.The Status of Wildlife in Khunjerab National Park Northern Areas, Pakistan. Tiger Paper., p. 25-28.

Press release from Snow Leopard Foundation, Pakistan: Three snow leopards snapped in a single capture in Khunjerab National Park

Three snow leopards snapped in a single capture in Khunjerab National Park

Snow leopards are so cryptic in nature and reside in one of the harshest and inaccessible milieus of our planet that encountering with snow leopard in the wild is like a dream. This elusive nature of snow leopard led one of the eminent wildlife biologists of the world to attribute this as “Imperiled Phantom”.

A total of 643 photographs including a group of 3 snow leopards (probably 2 sub adults with a mother) were photographed during an intensive camera trapping session of 560 nights in KNP during Nov-Dec. 2010, conducted by the Snow Leopard Foundation, Pakistan in collaboration with the Directorate of KNP and Gilgit-Baltistan Forest and Wildlife Department. The cameras captured many other wild species as well.

The Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to conserve viable populations of snow leopards and other wild carnivores as an integral part of landscapes across Pakistan, while improving the socio-economic condition of the people who share the fragile mountain ecosystem with the wildlife. The SLF works in partnership with the Snow Leopard Trust and Panthera, the two leading international wild cat conservation organizations, and operates in three core sectors: research and monitoring, community based conservation programs, and conservation education and awareness. It has
pioneered state-of-the-art research tools in Pakistan and operating in Gilgit-Baltistan, Khybger Pakhtunkhaw, and Azad Jamu and Kashmir.

The current study was undertaken in KNP from November, 23 to December 31, 2010 and was aimed at assessing the status of snow leopard as well as other carnivores, their key prey species, and human-carnivore conflict. The study also tested affect of different kinds of baits on camera trapping success.

In addition to camera trapping, more than 1400 km² area was scanned during occupancy surveys and 150 fecal samples were collected for genetic analysis. The study provided a rare learning opportunity to the staff of the Wildlife Department, and students from national and international universities, who were engaged. Once data analysis is completed, the study will provide more reliable estimates of snow leopard in the park besides highlighting existing management/monitoring limitations and ultimately help better manage the park resources in the longer run.

Panthera provided financial support for this study.