First camera-trap record of the snow leopard Panthera uncia in Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Nepal
N ARAYAN P RASAD K OJU,BIJAY B ASHYAL,BISHNU P RASAD P ANDEY S ATYA N ARAYAN S HAH,SHANKAR T HAMI and W ILLIAM V. BLEISCH
Abstract The snow leopard Panthera uncia is the flagship Keywords Camera trap, corridor, Gaurishankar Conser- species of the high mountains of the Himalayas. There is po- vation Area, Nepal, Panthera uncia, prey abundance, tentially continuous habitat for the snow leopard along the transboundary, snow leopard northern border of Nepal, but there is a gap in information Supplementary material for this article is available at about the snow leopard in Gaurishankar Conservation Area. doi.org/./SX Previous spatial analysis has suggested that the Lamabagar area in this Conservation Area could serve as a transbound- ary corridor for snow leopards, and that the area may con- he charismatic snow leopard Panthera uncia, the flag- nect local populations, creating a metapopulation. However, Tship species of the high mountains of Asia, is catego- there has been no visual confirmation of the species in rized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (Jackson, b; Lamabagar. We set infrared camera traps for months McCarthy et al., ). It is an apex predator in the Hi- in Lapchi Village of Gaurishankar Conservation Area, malayas and an indicator of a healthy montane ecosystem where blue sheep Pseudois nayaur, musk deer Moschus (MoFSC, ). Snow leopards range along the northern leucogaster and Himalayan tahr Hemitragus jemlahicus, all frontier of Nepal (McCarthy & Chapron, ) and the snow leopard prey species, had been observed. In November country is believed to harbour – individuals, making at , m, km south-west of Lapchi Village, one it a key range country (WWF, ). In Nepal the snow camera recorded three images of a snow leopard, the first leopard has been reported in Annapurna Conservation Area, photographic evidence of the species in the Conservation Shey Phoksundo National Park, Kangchenjunga Conservation Area. Sixteen other species of mammals were also recorded. Area, Manaslu Conservation Area, Makalu Barun National Camera-trap records and sightings indicated a high abun- Park, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Sagarmatha National Park dance of Himalayan tahr, blue sheep and musk deer. (Jackson, a,b; Green, ;McCarthy&Chapron,; Lapchi Village may be a potentially important corridor for WWF, ), Langtang National Park (Kyes & Chalise, ; snow leopard movement between the east and west of Nepal WWF, ) and Api Nampa Conservation Area (Khanal and northwards to Quomolongma National Park in China. et al., ). However, plans for development in the region present in- Even though potential habitat for the snow leopard is creasing threats to this corridor. We recommend develop- continuous from east to west along the Himalayan range, ment of a transboundary conservation strategy for snow studies on the species have been limited to Kanchanjunga leopard conservation in this region, with participation of and the Mt Everest region in the eastern Himalayas, Nepal, China and international agencies. Manang and Mustang in the central Himalayas, and Humla, Dolpa and Mugu in the western Himalayas. An es- timated snow leopards inhabit the eastern Himalayas of
NARAYAN PRASAD KOJU* (Corresponding author, orcid.org/0000-0002-4303- Nepal (from Kanchanjunga Conservation Area to Langtang 0520) Center for Post Graduate Studies, Nepal Engineering College, Lalitpur, National Park; WWF, ). There is a gap in information Nepal. E-mail [email protected] about the status of the snow leopard in Gaurishankar BIJAY BASHYAL ( orcid.org/0000-0002-5745-4762) Central Department of Conservation Area, part of the eastern Himalayas and po- Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal tentially a key site for the species, as it connects Langtang BISHNU PRASAD PANDEY,SATYA NARAYAN SHAH ( orcid.org/0000-0003-4677- National Park to the west and Sagarmatha National Park to 1866) and SHANKAR THAMI Gaurishankar Conservation Area, National Trust of Nature Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal the east with the larger contiguous Tibetan plateau to the WILLIAM V. BLEISCH ( orcid.org/0000-0001-6549-5823) China Exploration and north (Fig. ). Ale et al. ( ) reported the presence of the Research Society, Hong Kong snow leopard in Rolwaling area (c. km south-west of *Also at: Naaya Aayam Multi-disciplinary Institute, Kathmandu, Nepal, Lapchi Village) in Gaurishankar Conservation Area, based Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and on indirect signs (pugmarks, hair and faeces). Forrest Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal et al. ( ), based on spatial analysis, suggested that the Received June . Revision requested September . Lamabagar area in Gaurishankar Conservation Area may Accepted January . First published online October . serve as a transboundary corridor for the snow leopard,
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, Downloadeddistribution, from https://www.cambridge.org/core and reproduction in any medium,. IP address: provided 170.106.40.40 the original work, onis 03 properly Oct 2021 cited. at 03:11:42, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/termsOryx, 2021, 55(2), 173–176 ©. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060532000006XFauna & Flora International 2020 doi:10.1017/S003060532000006X 174 N. P. Koju et al.
FIG. 1 The study area, with Lapchi valley in Lamabagar and the location of the camera trap that recorded a snow leopard Panthera uncia in November .
hypothesizing that the area could connect local populations and juniper Juniperus sp. This is an area of steep canyons of snow leopards, creating a metapopulation. MoFSC () above an alpine stream, surrounded by broken terrain of speculated about the possible presence of the snow leopard cliffs, scree slopes and rocky outcrops, covered by snow in Lapchi Village in Lamabagar. when we set the cameras. We conducted this study to assess the distribution and We set two types of Bushnell Trophy Camera (Bushnell, activity patterns of wildlife in Lapchi Village in the climat- Overland Park, USA): Model #C, set in hybrid mode, ically diverse Gaurishankar Conservation Area (MoFSC, to take photographs and videos simultaneously, and Model ; Sindorf, ). This landscape comprises subtropical #C, to take photographs only. Cameras were set to to nival bioclimatic zones, with vegetation types and a run continuously, with a time interval of one second be- reported faunal diversity of bird, mammal, fish, tween triggers and three shots per trigger. Of the cameras, snake, amphibian and eight lizard species (NTNC, we lost two to theft, one from near the border with China ). The Conservation Area comprises six blocks: Gumba, and one from pasture near the village. Lamabagar/Lapchi, Rolwaling, Bigu/Kalinchowk, Marbu- During installation of the cameras we observed individ- Khare and Gumdel/Marbu (NTNC, ). Lapchi Village ual musk deer Moschus leucogaster and multiple groups of (formerly in Lamabagar Village Development Committee, blue sheep (Supplementary Plate ) and Himalayan tahr which is now subsumed in Bigu Rural Municipality) is Hemitragus jemlahicus, and also the possible scat of a snow bounded by the border with China to the east, west and leopard (Supplementary Plate )andcarcassesofbluesheep north, at the foot of the Lapchi Khang mountain range, possibly predated by a snow leopard (Supplementary Plate ). which is an important pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Camera-trap records and direct sightings indicated a high Buddhists and is known for the meditation caves of the abundance of Himalayan tahr, blue sheep and musk deer, suit- Tibetan saint and poet, Jetsun Milarepa. The caves surround able prey for the snow leopard. During installation and recovery the main monastery of Lapchi, Chöra Gephel Ling. of the cameras we observed a minimum of seven musk deer, We set infrared camera traps in the km Lapchi three herds of blue sheep and multiple herds of Himalayan Village for months, during October – April tahr around the area where the image of a snow leopard was ( days), at a minimum of km apart in randomly selected later captured. The three herds of blue sheep comprised a min- × km grid squares. We set three of the cameras above imum of individuals. The cameras recorded events of , m altitude near a possible snow leopard scat and musk deer and events of Himalayan tahr (an event is a series the carcass of a blue sheep Pseudois nayaur, aiming to of images separated by more than hour from other events); record movement of ungulates and snow leopards in the species of mammals were recorded in all, including the west- Lamabagar corridor below. These three cameras were in- ernmost record of Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii. stalled in moraines with sparse vegetation of alpine grasses On November at : a.m., a camera at , m and patches of shrubs such as Rhododendron anthopogon altitude, km south-west of Lapchi Village, recorded three
Oryx, 2021, 55(2), 173–176 © Fauna & Flora International 2020 doi:10.1017/S003060532000006X Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 03 Oct 2021 at 03:11:42, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060532000006X Snow leopard near Lapchi Village, Nepal 175
deer, Himalayan tahr, blue sheep, Himalayan brown bear Ursus arctos isabellinus and snow leopard, may attract illegal hunting. Poaching and illegal trade (Li & Lu, ), combined with climate change (Forrest et al., ), are major threats to biodiversity in the Himalayas. There are thus both con- ventional threats and new challenges, but also opportunities to conserve the snow leopard. Spatial analysis of habitats (MoFSC, ) suggests that Tamakoshi River is a barrier to movement of snow leopards in Gaurishankar Conservation Area. The corridor in Lamabagar and Alampu links snow leopard habitat to the Quomolongma National Park in China, and may not be greatly affected by climate change under three emission scenarios (Forrest et al., ). Lapchi PLATE 1 Snow leopard photo-trapped in Gaurishankar Village could therefore be an important climate change refu- Conservation Area (Fig. ). gium for the snow leopard. A transboundary conservation strategy for conservation of the snow leopard in this region photographs of a snow leopard, the first photographic evi- is warranted, with active participation of Nepal, China and dence of the presence of the snow leopard in Lapchi Village international agencies. and the Lamabagar corridor (Plate ). Whether this snow leopard was a seasonal visitor or has a permanent home Acknowledgements This study was a part of biodiversity research and monitoring programme run by Gaurishankar Conservation Area range in the area will require further study. The camera Project and the National Trust for Nature Conservation. We thank that captured the snow leopard recorded four other mam- Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project for support, and for per- malian species: musk deer, blue sheep, red fox Vulpes vulpes mission to conduct the survey and publish the findings. and bobak marmot Marmota bobak. During fieldwork we also spoke with villagers and Author contributions Study design, fieldwork: NPK, BB, BPP, ST, SNS; data analysis, writing: NPK, BB, WVB. herders, and lamas in the monastery, about any conflict with wildlife and about mammalian diversity. None of the Conflicts of interest None. herders or villagers reported snow leopards in this area, but the oldest lama in the monastery shared a memory of seeing Ethical standards This research involved a non-invasive survey and a snow leopard a long time ago near the village. Villagers otherwise abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical standards. reported they are facing threats from the Himalayan black bear Ursus thibetanus laniger, and the head office of Gaur- References ishankar Conservation Area informed us that there were incidents of wildlife attacks against people or livestock ALE, S., THAPA, K., JACKSON,R.&SMITH, J.D. () The fate of snow – in this area in , all reportedly by bears. leopards in and around Mt. Everest. Cat News, , . ARYAL, A., BRUNTON, D., JI, W., BARRACLOUGH, R.K. & Lapchi Village comprises households, all semi-no- RAUBENHEIMER,D.() Human–carnivore conflict: ecological madic pastoralists following traditional practices, rearing and economical sustainability of predation on livestock by snow domestic yak as their livelihood, under a shifting grazing leopard and other carnivores in the Himalaya. Sustainability Science, system. All are Sherpa people who follow the Beyul culture , –. of Nyingmapa Buddhism, which emphasizes the sanctity of BAGCHI,S.&MISHRA,C.( ) Living with large carnivores: predation on livestock by the snow leopard (Uncia uncia). Journal of a landscape of sacred valleys (beyul). These beliefs may have Zoology, , –. provided protection for the wildlife and habitats of the FORREST, J.L., WIKRAMANAYAKE, E., SHRESTHA, R., AREENDRAN, G., region. Gaurishankar Conservation Area is being opened GYELTSHEN, K., MAHESHWARI, A. et al. 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International Snow Leopard Trust and interactions with people (Bagchi & Mishra, ; Jackson Wildlife Institute of India, Seattle, Washington (ed. H. Freeman), et al., ; Li et al., ; Aryal et al., ; Sharma et al., pp. –. International Snow Leopard Trust, Seattle, USA, & ). The rich biodiversity of Lapchi Village, with musk Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India.
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Oryx, 2021, 55(2), 173–176 © Fauna & Flora International 2020 doi:10.1017/S003060532000006X Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 03 Oct 2021 at 03:11:42, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060532000006X