SNOW LEOPARD IN NEPAL

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is a highly elusive cat and an apex predator native to high mountains of Central and South Asia. The species inhabits an estimated area of 1.8 million km square at an altitude from 540m to more than 5000m (GSLEP 2013). They occur in 12 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and its current estimated population range from 3921 to 6290 (GSLEP 2013).

Nepal, also a home for snow leopard among the list of 12 countries having an estimated population of 350-500 snow leopards (DNPWC 2017). In Nepal, potential snow leopard habitat is estimated to be about 13,000 km square, with a wider distribution outside the protected area (WWF 2009). Annapurna Conservation Area, Shey Phuksundo National Park, Kangchenjunga Conservation Area, Manaslu Conservation Area, and Sagarmatha National Park are the prime protected areas for the snow leopard in Nepal. Apart from these protected areas, a healthy number of snow leopard expected to occur in the Mugu, Dolpa, and Humla districts of Nepal. Primarily, snow leopards in Nepal share their habitat with blue sheep, Himalayan tahr, alpine musk deer, Tibetan argali, Himalayan wolf, and barking deer.

Nepal has given its persistent efforts on research and conservation of snow leopard. Major research of snow leopard in Nepal uses cutting-edge methods like non-invasive genetic analysis of scats, GPS satellite radio-collar, and camera trapping. Community engagement, conservation education in schools, outreach programs, trans-boundary co-operation, compensation scheme, livelihood enhancement, capacity building training to frontline park staffs, the formation of Snow Leopard Conservation Committee’s (SLCC), and introduction of citizen scientists are the key conservation works initiated in many principle habitats (DNPWC 2017).

Despite the above-mentioned research and conservation efforts, there are still few challenges for snow leopard conservation in Nepal. Major prey species of snow leopard are depleting because of overgrazing of rangelands, livestock herding, and overexploitation of medicinal herbs. Due to a shortage of natural prey, snow leopard mostly prey on domestic livestock (Chetri et al. 2017) which leads to retaliatory killings (in an act of revenge) and persecution. The potential habitats of the snow leopard and its prey species are supposed to decline because of the adverse effects of climate change (Aryal et al. 2016). Illegal poaching and trade of snow leopard’s body parts are also one of the key drivers for its population decline across many habitat ranges.

The snow leopard is Vulnerable in IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List , under appendix I in CITIES (The Convection on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) which strictly bans all the International trade of specimens of the species and protected species in Nepal. For the viability of the species, a holistic approach and multi-pronged strategies should be strengthened across all the potential ranges.

References:

Ø   Aryal A, Shrestha UB, Ji W, Ale SB, Shrestha S, Ingty T, Maraseni T, Cockfield G,  Raubenheimer D (2016) Predicting the distributions of predator (snow leopard) and prey (blue sheep) under climate change in the Himalaya. Ecol Evol 6: 4065– 4075. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2196

Ø   Chetri M, Odden M, Wegge P (2017) Snow Leopard and Himalayan Wolf: Food Habits and Prey Selection in the Central Himalayas, Nepal. PLoS ONE 12(2): e0170549. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170549

Ø  DNPWC (2017) Snow Leopard Conservation Action Plan (2017-2021). Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal

Ø      GSLEP (2013) Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Program. Snow Leopard Working Secretariat, Global Snow Conservation Forum, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

  WWF (2009) Estimating snow leopard populations in the Nepal Himalaya Pp 1-31

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