The status of snow leopards Panthera uncia, and high altitude use by common leopards P. pardus,in north-west Yunnan, China
P AUL J. BUZZARD,XUEYOU L I and W ILLIAM V. BLEISCH
Abstract The Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia is a Leopard Network, ; Alexander et al., a). The north- flagship species of mountainous Asia and a conservation west of Yunnan province in south-west China is a biodiver- priority. China is the most important country for the spe- sity hotspot at the edge of the snow leopard’s range cies’ conservation because it has the most potential habitat (Mittermeier et al., ; McCarthy et al., ). There is and the largest population of snow leopards. North-west much uncertainty regarding the status of snow leopards in Yunnan province in south-west China is at the edge of the this area, and Riordan et al. () expressed the need for snow leopard’s range, and a biodiversity hotspot, where more snow leopard surveys there to assess the validity of dis- three major Asian rivers, the Yangtze, Mekong and tribution maps. During –, snow leopards were de- Salween, flow off the Tibetan plateau and cut deep valleys tected at three locations in north-west Yunnan (Alexander through the Hengduan Mountains. The snow leopard’s sta- et al., a). However, the IUCN Red List records the spe- tus in north-west Yunnan is uncertain. We conducted inter- cies as regionally extinct in Yunnan (Jackson et al., ), views and camera-trapping surveys to assess the species’ although Smith & Xie () note that snow leopards are status at multiple sites: two east of the Yangtze River and present there. Here we present data from several areas in two between the Yangtze and Mekong Rivers. Thirty-eight north-west Yunnan to help clarify the status of snow leo- herders/nature reserve officials interviewed claimed that pards in this province. Three major rivers, the Yangtze, snow leopards were present, but in , camera-trap days Mekong and Salween, flow down from the Tibetan plateau we did not obtain any photographs of snow leopards, so if into north-west Yunnan, and then run approximately par- the species is present, it is rare. However, we obtained many allel for . km, within a span of c. km, separated by photographs of potential prey, such as blue sheep Pseudois the Hengduan–Shan mountain ranges, with peaks up to nayaur, as well as photographs of common leopards , m. The rivers have created a complex topography, Panthera pardus, at high elevations (,–, m). with diverse habitats, and consequently this area is a bio- More study is necessary in Yunnan and other areas of diversity hotspot (Mittermeier et al., ) and is designated south-west China to investigate the status and resource the Three Parallel Rivers UNESCO World Heritage site overlap of snow leopards and common leopards, especially (UNESCO, ; Fig. ). as climate change is resulting in increases in common leop- Interviews and camera trapping have been useful in de- ard habitat and decreases in snow leopard habitat. termining the status of snow leopards and other wildlife (e.g. Taubmann et al., ; Chen et al., ). We conducted Keywords Climate change, common leopard, Panthera semi-structured interviews, using pictures to distinguish be- pardus, Panthera uncia, resource overlap, snow leopard, tween similar species. In autumn we conducted inter- Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site views with herders and nature reserve officials at two study he snow leopard Panthera uncia is categorized as sites between the Yangtze and Mekong Rivers: herders TEndangered on the IUCN Red List (Jackson et al., and two officials in the northern area of Baimaxueshan ), and China is the most important country for conser- Nature Reserve near Yeri village, and four herders in Guji vation of the species because it has the most potential habi- valley adjacent to Baimaxueshan (Fig. ). In spring we tat and the largest population of snow leopards (Snow conducted interviews with local herders at two study sites east of the Yangtze River: five herders near Langdu village and four herders near Balagezong Nature Reserve (Fig. ). We also deployed heat/motion-sensing camera traps PAUL J. BUZZARD* (Corresponding author) and WILLIAM V. BLEISCH China Exploration & Research Society, Southmark Tower B 2707, 11 Yip Hing (Bushnell) near Langdu, Yeri and Guji. We set cameras Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong, China along wildlife trails or areas snow leopards might use, E-mail [email protected] such as along ridges and mountain passes, and we set cam- XUEYOU LI State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China eras singly to maximize the area covered. Near Langdu we set six cameras during June–December at ,– *Current address: Detroit Zoological Society, 8450 West 10 Mile Road, Royal Oak, MI 48067, USA , m altitude. At Baimaxueshan near Yeri we set cam- – Received December . Revision requested March . eras during December September in unique lo- Accepted May . First published online July . cations at ,–, m altitude, and at Guji we set three
Oryx, 2017, 51(4), 587–589 © 2017 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317000825 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 25 Sep 2021 at 21:18:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317000825 588 P. J. Buzzard et al.
FIG. 1 Location of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site and the four study sites in north-west Yunnan, China, where interviews and camera-trap surveys were conducted to investigate the status of the snow leopard Panthera uncia.
cameras during September –April at ,– how many individuals were photographed because the , m altitude. Near Yeri we set cameras in four locations images were not of sufficient quality to confidently distin- – km apart. Within each of these locations the mean dis- guish individuals. Common leopards were poached . tance between neighbouring cameras was m. At Langdu years ago, according to herders, who showed several com- the mean distance between cameras was m, and at Guji mon leopard skins, but there were no reports of recent the mean distance between cameras was m. poaching, and several purported common leopard skins At all sites the herders and officials interviewed indicated for sale in local tourist shops transpired to be fake. that snow leopards were present but that there was no pre- Common leopards are considered to be potential predators dation of livestock by snow leopards and no evidence of of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys Rhinopithecus bieti, which poaching of snow leopards. The cameras were deployed occur at ,–, m at Baimaxueshan, but there are no for camera-days at Langdu, , camera-days at records of predation (Kirkpatrick et al., ). Baimaxueshan, and camera-days in the Guji valley. Conservation efforts for snow leopards may benefit other We did not record any photographs of snow leopards so it carnivores (Alexander et al., b). Laguardia et al. () is likely that if snow leopards are present they are rare. reported no records of common leopards in western China However, we did record many images of potential snow at . , m altitude, but our study shows the need to sur- leopard prey. We recorded at least blue sheep vey adequately at high altitudes to obtain robust data for Pseudois nayaur in nine groups of – individuals, both common and snow leopards, especially as common images of the Chinese goral Naemorhedus griseus, images leopards may be rarer than previously thought in China of alpine musk deer Moschus chrysogaster, three of Chinese (Laguardia et al., ). The abundance of potential prey serow Capricornis milneedwardsii, five of tufted deer at our study sites suggests that there is much potential habi- Elaphodus cephalophus and one wild boar Sus scrofa.We tat available for both leopard species. In the central considered consecutive photographs of the same species to Himalaya both species eat similar prey items, and common be independent when there was at least a -hour interval be- leopards have shown wide adaptability to diverse habitats at tween the photographs (Rovero & Marshall, ). elevations up to , m (Lovari et al., a,b). Climate At Baimaxueshan three herders and the two officials change has led to the upward movement of forests and claimed common leopards Panthera pardus were also pre- the increase of common leopard habitat at the expense of sent, and we recorded images of common leopards at snow leopard habitat (Lovari et al., b), and snow leo- ,–, m altitude. It was not possible to determine pards may adjust their ranging to avoid competition with
Oryx, 2017, 51(4), 587–589 © 2017 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317000825 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 25 Sep 2021 at 21:18:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317000825 Snow leopards and common leopards, China 589
common leopards (Ferretti & Lovari, ). In several areas Threatened Species : e.TA. Http://dx.doi.org/. of China (Eastern Tibet, Mount Gonggashan, Sichuan and /IUCN.UK..RLTS.TA.en [accessed May Sanjiangyuan Reserve, Qinghai) camera traps have recorded ]. JANEČKA, J.E., JACKSON, R., YUQUANG, Z., DIQIANG, L., both snow leopards and common leopards at the same loca- MUNKHTSOG, B., BUCKLEY-BEASON,V.&MURPHY, W.J. () tion (Wen, ; Yang, ; JiaWu Xiong & Tong Zhang, Population monitoring of snow leopards using noninvasive pers. comm.). The Baimaxueshan Management Office is collection of scat samples: a pilot study. Animal Conservation, , planning long-term camera trapping in alpine and remote –. areas in the reserve to monitor snow leopards and common KIRKPATRICK, R.C., LONG, Y.C., ZHONG,T.&XIAO,L.( ) Social organization and range use in the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey leopards and their prey. The data presented here will be Rhinopithecus bieti. International Journal of Primatology, , –. valuable for comparison with the findings of this work. LAGUARDIA, A., KAMLER, J.F., LI, S., ZHANG, C., ZHOU,Z.&SHI,K. More study is also needed in other parts of Yunnan and () The current distribution and status of leopards Panthera south-west China to elucidate resource overlap and the po- pardus in China. Oryx, , –. tential for competition between the leopard species. This LOVARI, S., MINDER, I., FERRETTI, F., MUCCI, N., RANDI,E.& PELLIZZI,B.(a) Common and snow leopards share prey, but work should include camera trapping and/or genetic ana- not habitats: competition avoidance by large predators? Journal of č lyses (Jane ka et al., ). Our findings confirm that cau- Zoology, , –. tion is justified when interpreting interview data on the LOVARI, S., VENTIMIGLIA,M.&MINDER,I.(b) Food habits of two presence of species (Caruso et al., ). leopard species, competition, climate change and upper treeline: a way to the decrease of an endangered species? Ethology, Ecology & Evolution, , –. Acknowledgements MCCARTHY, T., MALLON, D., SANDERSON, E.W., ZAHLER,P.& FISHER,K.() What is a snow leopard? Biogeography and status We thank Howman Wong, Founder and President of the overview. In Snow Leopards (eds T. McCarthy & D. Mallon), – China Exploration & Research Society, for help with logistics pp. . Academic Press, London, UK. MITTERMEIER, R.A., GIL, P.R., HOFFMANN, M., PILGRIM, J., BROOKS, and site access, and local field assistants who helped with field C.G.M., LAMOREUX,J.&DA FONSECA, G.A.B. () Hotspots work. We also thank Prof. Jiang Xuelong for guidance, and Revisted: Earth’s Biologically Wealthiest and Most Threatened Kim Williams-Guillén for help with Fig. . Funding came Ecosystems. Conservation International, CEMEX, Mexico. from Symrise Inc., Eu Yan Sang International Limited, and RIORDAN, P., CUSHMAN, S.A., MALLON, D., SHI,K.&HUGHES,J. a conservation grant from the Snow Leopard Network. ( ) Predicting global population connectivity and targeting conservation actions for snow leopard across its range. Ecography, This research was conducted with the necessary approvals , –. and permits from the appropriate institutions in China. ROVERO,F.&MARSHALL, A.R. () Camera trapping photographic rate as an index of density in forest ungulates. Journal of Applied Ecology, , –. Author contributions SMITH, A.T. & XIE, Y. (eds) () A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. 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Shan Shui (b) Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other Nature Conservation Centre, Beijing, China. carnivores? Oryx, , –. YANG, C.M. () Research on and Conservation of Snow Leopard in CARUSO, N., VIDAL, E.L., GUERISOLI,M.&LUCHERINI,M.() Gong Ga Shan. Presentation at Tianshan Snow Leopard Forum Carnivore occurrence: do interview-based surveys produce August –, . Gong Ga Shan National Nature Reserve unreliable results? Oryx, , –. Management. CHEN, P., GAO, Y., WANG, J., PU, Q., LHABA, C., HU, H. et al. () Status and conservation of the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia in Qomolangma National Nature Reserve, Tibet. Oryx, Biographical sketches https://doi.org/./S. FERRETTI,F.&LOVARI,S.() Predation may counteract climatic PAUL BUZZARD’s work focuses on protected area management and change as a driving force for movements of mountain ungulates. wildlife monitoring with remote sensing technology. XUEYOU LI Behavioural Processes, , –. works on the behavioural ecology and status of ungulates and carni- JACKSON, R., MALLON, D., MCCARTHY, T., CHUNDAWAT, R.A. & vores in south-west China. BILL BLEISCH focuses on protected area HABIB,B.() Panthera uncia.InThe IUCN Red List of management and the sustainable engagement of local communities.
Oryx, 2017, 51(4), 587–589 © 2017 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605317000825 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.76, on 25 Sep 2021 at 21:18:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317000825