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Metadata of the Chapter That Will Be Visualized Online See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225926634 Interactions Between the Himalayan Tahr, Livestock and Snow Leopards in the Sagarmatha National Park Chapter · September 2011 DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-1802-9_5 CITATIONS READS 3 606 3 authors: Bikram Shrestha Pavel Kindlmann Global Change research Institute of Czech Academy of Science Czech Globe 19 PUBLICATIONS 78 CITATIONS 232 PUBLICATIONS 5,017 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Shant Raj Jnawali World Wildlife Fund 62 PUBLICATIONS 975 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Research Scientist View project Large mammal ecology in lowland Nepal View project All content following this page was uploaded by Pavel Kindlmann on 11 August 2015. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Metadata of the chapter that will be visualized online Series Title Chapter Title Interactions Between the Himalayan Tahr, Livestock and Snow Leopards in the Sagarmatha National Park Chapter SubTitle Copyright Year 2012 Copyright Holder Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Corresponding Author Family Name Shrestha Particle Given Name Bikram Suffix Division Organization Forum of Natural Resource Managers Address Kathmandu, Nepal Email [email protected] Author Family Name Kindlmann Particle Given Name Pavel Suffix Division Department of Biodiversity Research Organization Global Change Research Centre, AS CR Address Na sádkách 7, CZ-370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Division Institute for Environmental Studies Organization Charles University Address Benátská 2, CZ-128 01, Prague 2, Czech Republic Email Author Family Name Jnawali Particle Given Name Shant Raj Suffix Division Program Terai Environment Organization National Trust for Nature Conservation Address Kathmandu, Nepal Email Abstract Competition between wild ungulates and livestock for resources and interactions between these two and large predators are widely regarded as a major management issue in the Himalayas. Real data supporting these claims are scarce, but badly needed for developing good management strategies, which will effectively protect both wild ungulates and their predators in the Himalayas. Our study was done in August/September of 2006 in the Mongla and Phortse regions of the Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) with the aim of determining: (i) habitat overlap between tahr and domestic livestock, (ii) overlap in diets of tahr and domestic livestock, (iii) the effect of predators on tahr and (iv) explore the composition of vegetation in the region. Vantage points and regular monitoring from trails were used to observe the tahr and livestock. Direct observation and micro histological techniques were used to determine the overlap in diets of tahr and livestock. Diet of snow leopard was determined by scat analyses, which involved the microscopic identification of hair. There is overlap both in space and diet between tahr and livestock. Analysis of faecal samples revealed 24 species of plants in the faeces of tahr and 31 in those of livestock, of which 22 species were common to both. In total, 45 plant species were recorded at Mongla and 54 at Phortse. Two species of wild and four species of domestic mammals were identified in the scats of snow leopard, with that of Himalayan tahr being the most frequent. In terms of domestic animals, the hair of yak was most frequently found in the faeces of snow leopard. The results of a questionnaire revealed that the snow leopard is the main predator of domestic livestock. We conclude that there is currently no serious competition between livestock and tahr for food, the main threat now comes from the decline in plant productivity in the region due to overgrazing. This trend could seriously change the situation, as tahr and livestock would then compete for food. The most effective way of reversing this trend is to introduce measures that limit the amount of grass that is harvested for feeding livestock during winter, which is rapidly increasing. Keywords (separated by Himalayan tahr - Snow leopard - Livestock - Prey-predator dynamics '-') Chapter 5 1 Interactions Between the Himalayan Tahr, 2 Livestock and Snow Leopards 3 in the Sagarmatha National Park 4 Bikram Shrestha, Pavel Kindlmann, and Shant Raj Jnawali 5 Abstract Competition between wild ungulates and livestock for resources and 6 interactions between these two and large predators are widely regarded as a major 7 management issue in the Himalayas. Real data supporting these claims are scarce, 8 but badly needed for developing good management strategies, which will effectively 9 protect both wild ungulates and their predators in the Himalayas. Our study was done 10 in August/September of 2006 in the Mongla and Phortse regions of the Sagarmatha 11 National Park (SNP) with the aim of determining: (i) habitat overlap between tahr 12 and domestic livestock, (ii) overlap in diets of tahr and domestic livestock, (iii) the 13 effect of predators on tahr and (iv) explore the composition of vegetation in the 14 region. Vantage points and regular monitoring from trails were used to observe the 15 tahr and livestock. Direct observation and micro histological techniques were used to 16 determine the overlap in diets of tahr and livestock. Diet of snow leopard was deter- 17 mined by scat analyses, which involved the microscopic identification of hair. There 18 is overlap both in space and diet between tahr and livestock. Analysis of faecal sam- 19 ples revealed 24 species of plants in the faeces of tahr and 31 in those of livestock, of 20 which 22 species were common to both. In total, 45 plant species were recorded at 21 Mongla and 54 at Phortse. Two species of wild and four species of domestic mam- 22 mals were identified in the scats of snow leopard, with that of Himalayan tahr being 23 the most frequent. In terms of domestic animals, the hair of yak was most frequently 24 B. ShresthaUncorrected (*) Proof Forum of Natural Resource Managers, Kathmandu, Nepal e-mail: [email protected] P. Kindlmann Department of Biodiversity Research, Global Change Research Centre, AS CR, Na sádkách 7, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic Institute for Environmental Studies, Charles University, Benátská 2, CZ-128 01 Prague 2, Czech Republic [AU1] S.R. Jnawali Program Terai Environment, National Trust for Nature Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal P. Kindlmann (ed.), Himalayan Biodiversity in the Changing World, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1802-9_5, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 B. Shrestha et al. 25 found in the faeces of snow leopard. The results of a questionnaire revealed that the 26 snow leopard is the main predator of domestic livestock. We conclude that there is 27 currently no serious competition between livestock and tahr for food, the main threat 28 now comes from the decline in plant productivity in the region due to overgrazing. 29 This trend could seriously change the situation, as tahr and livestock would then 30 compete for food. The most effective way of reversing this trend is to introduce mea- 31 sures that limit the amount of grass that is harvested for feeding livestock during 32 winter, which is rapidly increasing. 33 Keywords Himalayan tahr • Snow leopard • Livestock • Prey-predator dynamics 34 5.1 Introduction 35 5.1.1 General Background 36 The Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) belongs to the family Bovidae and is 37 a migratory herbivore common at high altitudes. The Red Data Book of the Fauna 38 of Nepal (BPP 1995) has categorized it as a species likely to become extinct, while 39 IUCN has listed it in its category (K): Insufficiently Known. The Himalayan tahr, 40 one of three species of tahr, is native to the Southern range of the Himalayan 41 Mountains, including the Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) and is one of the most 42 common species there. The other two species of tahr include the Nilgiri tahr 43 (Hemitragus hylocrius) found in Southern India and Arabian tahr (Hemitragus 44 jayakari) in Oman. 45 In our study area, the Khumbu region, which is a part of the Sagarmatha National 46 Park (SNP), agro-pastoralism is the main occupation of the majority of people. 47 Though tourism is emerging as an alternative source of income for people, those 48 living in remote areas are still dependent upon traditional agriculture. Yak and its 49 hybrids are the major livestock at high altitudes, while cows prevail at low altitudes. 50 Domestic livestock in grazing the mountain pastures are thought to compete with 51 wild herbivores by depleting resources and degrading the pastures (Schaller 1977; 52 Shah 1998; Richari et al. 1992). The presence of livestock intensifies the competi- 53 tion betweenUncorrected plant species and results either in the loss of speciesProof or in coexistence 54 by partitioning of resources between species, spatially or temporally (Gause 1934; 55 Begon et al. 1986). Buffa et al. (1998) and Shrestha (2006) note a spatial overlap in 56 the occurrence of wildlife (tahr) and domestic animals, which is likely to lead to 57 competition for food and habitat destruction due to overpopulation. Wildlife- 58 livestock competition for resources is therefore widely regarded as a major manage- 59 ment issue, particularly in the mountainous protected areas, such as the Shey 60 Phoksundo National Park, Rara National Park, Khaptad National Park, Makalu 61 Barun National Park, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Kanchanjunga Conservation 5 Interactions Between the Himalayan Tahr, Livestock and Snow Leopards... Area and the Annapurna Conservation Area (Shrestha et al. 1990; KMTNC 1997; 62 Richard et al. 1999; Basnet 2002). 63 The return of the snow leopard to the Mount Everest National Park (Ale and 64 Boesi 2005) is likely to lead to conflicts between local people and snow leopard, 65 if in the future this predator kills significant numbers of domestic animals. This 66 predator may already have had a significant ecological effect on the prey-predator 67 ­dynamics and community structure in the region.
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