Examining livestock depredation and the determinants of people's attitudes towards snow leopards in the Himalayas of Nepal

Abstract

Livestock depredation by snow leopards Panthera uncia poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of pastoral communities and engenders negative attitudes towards the species, threatening its survival. We conducted 104 semi-structured interviews within local communities (livestock herders and owners) in the Nyesyang valley of Manang District, in the Annapurna Conservation Area, western Nepal, to assess the status of livestock depredation and community attitudes towards snow leopards. During February 2016–January 2018, respondents reportedly lost 279 livestock to snow leopards (mean loss of 1.3 livestock per household), comprising 3.7% of the total stockholding in 2018. This loss amounts to a monetary loss of USD 319 per annum for each household. Only half of the households who lost livestock to snow leopards in the previous 2 years received compensation from the Conservation Area. Almost an equal proportion of respondents held positive (42%) and negative (41%) attitudes towards snow leopards. An ordered logistic regression analysis revealed that being a woman, being illiterate, owning a high number of large-bodied livestock and relying primarily on agropastoralism were factors associated significantly with negative attitudes towards snow leopards. We recommend focusing conservation education on illiterate community members and engaging more women in conservation programmes, along with a community-based insurance scheme for large-sized livestock to mitigate losses and improve local community attitudes towards snow leopards.

Effect of Heavy Metal Pollution on the Blood Biochemical Parameters and Liver Histology of the Lethrinid Fish, Lethrinus harak from the Red Sea

“…The present result reveals that several sheep (18%) and other animals (12%) are killed by snow leopards but they were less in number as compared to goats (32%), reason is that goats were in the farm of herds and easy to capture and kill. Chauhan (2003) reported Carnivore is well-known to hunt sheep in livestock sheds or pasture.…”

From conflict to coexistence: the challenges of the expanding human–wildlife interface

“…Management of wildlife populations involved in conflict faces numerous issues relating to conservation, perceptions of nature, animal welfare and the economics of natural resources, and strategies to manage conflict must consider all of these matters. But coexistence cannot be secured without tolerance from people, and in-depth understanding of the determinants of peoples’ attitudes is required, as in Shahi et al's (2023) examination of livestock depredation by snow leopards in the Himalayas.…”