Change in snow leopard predation on livestock after revival of wild prey in the Trans-Himalaya

Abstract

Human–wildlife conflict arising from livestock‐losses to large carnivores is an important challenge faced by conservation. Theory of prey–predator interactions suggests that revival of wild prey populations can reduce predator's dependence on livestock in multiple‐use landscapes. We explore whether 10‐years of conservation efforts to revive wild prey could reduce snow leopard's Panthera uncia consumption of livestock in the coupled human‐and‐natural Trans‐Himalayan ecosystem of northern India. Starting in 2001, concerted conservation efforts at one site (intervention) attempted recovery of wild‐prey populations by creating livestock‐free reserves, accompanied with other incentives (e.g. insurance, vigilant herding). Another site, 50km away, was monitored as status quo without any interventions. Prey remains in snow leopard scats were examined periodically at five‐year intervals between 2002 and 2012 to determine any temporal shift in diet at both sites to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation interventions. Consumption of livestock increased at the status quo site, while it decreased at the intervention‐site. At the intervention‐site, livestock‐consumption reduced during 2002–2007 (by 17%, p=0.06); this effect was sustained during the next five‐year interval, and it was accompanied by a persistent increase in wild prey populations. Here we also noted increased predator populations, likely due to immigration into the study area. Despite the increase in the predator population, there was no increase in livestock‐consumption. In contrast, under status quo, dependence on livestock increased during both five‐year intervals (by 7%, p=0.08, and by 16%, p=0.01, respectively). These contrasts between the trajectories of the two sites suggest that livestock‐loss can potentially be reduced through the revival of wild prey. Further, accommodating counter‐factual scenarios may be an important step to infer whether conservation efforts achieve their targets, or not.

Relative influence of wild prey and livestock abundance on carnivore‐caused livestock predation

“…A few studies that have tried to identify the causes of livestock predation by snow leopards have found a range of factors influencing the extent of livestock predation such as wild prey density, livestock density, herding practices, and habitat type (Alexander, et al, 2015; Alexander, et al, 2015; Bagchi & Mishra, 2006; Bagchi et al., 2020; Chetri et al., 2017, 2019; Jackson et al., 1996; Rashid et al., 2020; Suryawanshi et al., 2013, 2017). These studies have generated an understanding of spatial and temporal patterns of livestock predation, providing insights into the location and season for prioritizing mitigation measures.…”

No silver bullet? Snow leopard prey selection in Mt. Kangchenjunga, Nepal

“…The general assumption in the big cat world is that an increase in wild prey availability reduces livestock depredation. The revival of wild prey populations may at least partially mitigate livestock depredation through effective conservation intervention (Bagchi et al, 2019). In the Mt.…”

“…TA B L E 6 Utilization, availability, and preference of prey species in snow leopard diet within the KCA (2012) least partially mitigate livestock depredation through effective conservation intervention (Bagchi et al, 2019). In the Mt.…”

“…Declining prey populations is a serious and lasting risk to snow leopard survival, with the cascading effect of intensifying livestock depredation rates, inciting herder retribution (Jackson & Lama, 2016). Bagchi et al (2019) suggested that the revival of wild prey could be one of the potential solutions for reducing livestock depredation through effective conservation intervention. However, even with an abundance of wild prey, snow leopards often target livestock as they are abundant and easy to prey on (Johansson et al, 2015; Suryawanshi et al, 2017).…”

Horizon Scan of Transboundary Concerns Impacting Snow Leopard Landscapes in Asia

“…Various political, social, economic, and ecological challenges have placed severe stress on snow leopards in the high-altitude Asian regions and have destabilized and fragmented their natural habitats. The multitude of factors include political boundaries and the associated fencing, climate change, transboundary infrastructure development, encroachment of agriculture and human settlements into the habitats of carnivores and their prey species, human-snow leopard conflict, and illegal trade in snow leopard skin and bones [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The political fragmentation of the habitat, however, prevents the adoption of an integrated transboundary landscape approach to handle the issue of integrated habitat conservation and can be seen as the overarching phenomenon that has bearing on all the other factors and their mitigation.…”