Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India Population Assessment of World’s Snow Leopards (PAWS) for India Petroglyphs are one of the oldest forms human art, and an important communication tool. Found all around the world, they are a remnant of the prehistoric era when man was an integral part of his natural surroundings. This petroglyph recounts a tale of a female snow leopard and her cub. With wild prey on the decline due to overgrazing by domesticated sheep, the snow leopard is forced to prey upon a local herder’s sheep to provide for her cub. However, in retaliation, the humans kill her daughter, but over time, as the population of snow leopards decline, the herders notice a substantial increase in the population of wild ungulates that graze away most of the sparse grassland thereby leaving their own her to die of starvation. The importance of the snow leopard in their lives dawns upon the human after this, and the next time she spots humans, they surprisingly admire rather than admonish her. Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India Population Assessment of World’s List of Contributors Snow Leopards (PAWS) for India Wildlife Institute of India: V.B. Mathur, G.S. Rawat, S. Sathyakumar, T. Bhattacharya Nature Conservation Foundation-Snow Leopard Trust: C. Mishra, K. Sharma, K.S. Suryawanshi, Y.V. Bhatnagar, D. Rathore, A. Reddy, A. Khara, H. Kour Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change / State Forest and Wildlife Departments, Government of India Inspector General of Forests (Wildlife); Chief Wildlife Warden (Jammu and Kashmir); Chief Wildlife Warden (Himachal Pradesh); Chief Wildlife Warden (Uttarakhand); Chief Wildlife Warden (Sikkim); Chief Wildlife Warden (Arunachal Pradesh). Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program PAWS Advisory Panel: D. Bochers, D. Mackenzie, I. Durbach, J.D. Nichols, C. Sutherland Partner organisations: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the State Forest/ Wildlife Departments of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, Nature Conservation Foundation, Snow Leopard Trust, Wildlife Institute of India, United Nations Development Programme, Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program Cover and Book Design: Echostream Design Pvt. Ltd. Opposite Dukhit Pan Dukaan, Bhanu Path Road, Gangtok-Sikkim 737101 www.echostream.in Suggested citation MoEFCC (2019). SNOW LEOPARD POPULATION ASSESSMENT IN INDIA: Population Assessment of World’s Snow Leopards. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Wildlife; Wildlife Institute of India; Nature Conservation Foundation-Snow Leopard Trust; and Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program-PAWS Advisory Panel. p59. Contents Foreword ........................................................................................ vii Introduction ..................................................................................... 2 by Hon'ble Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Challenge ......................................................................................... 6 Message ........................................................................................ viii Opportunity ...................................................................................... 9 by Hon'ble Minister of State, Sampling Strategy for SPAI .......................................................... 14 Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Data Archiving ............................................................................... 29 Message .......................................................................................... ix by Secretary, Capacity Building .......................................................................... 31 Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Message ........................................................................................... x by Director General of Forest & Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Message .......................................................................................... xi by Additional Director General of Forest, Ministry Of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Appendix I: .................................................................................... 39 Appendix IV: .................................................................................. 65 Rationale for two step Abundance estimation of sampling strategy for SPAI wild ungulate prey of snow leopards Appendix II: ................................................................................... 43 Appendix V: ................................................................................... 69 Data collection protocols for camera trapping Data analysis and interpretation and genetic sampling Appendix VI: .................................................................................. 76 Appendix III: .................................................................................. 55 Future developments Workflows for data organization and management References .................................................................................... 81 मं�ी पया셍वरण , वन एवं जलवायु पिरवत셍न मं�ालय भारत सरकार MINISTER �काश जावडेकर MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE PRAKASH JAVADEKAR GOVERNMENT OF INDIA FOREWORD Snow leopard known as the “ghost of the mountains” are the most elusive carnivore found in the high altitude of the five states namely Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. It is the flagship species of conservation in the Indian Himalayas. The high-altitude ecosystem of the Himalayas provides fresh water and other services worth Rs. 288.25 billion annually to nearly one fifth of human population of the world Despite such importance of snow leopard and its habitat, uniform protocol to assess its distribution and population was lacking Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), has taken leadership and with the help of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru, have now prepared a National level protocol called the Snow Leopard Population Assessment of India (SPAI) consultation with the five snow leopard range States in India Population enumeration of snow leopard is a management tool for the conservation biologist and Protected Area Managers It also provides a platform for formulation of management strategies and is a unique feature of our snow leopard conservation efforts. This protocol is evolved from the international efforts to develop a global protocol for the Population Assessment of World's Snow Leopards (PAWS) under the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) of the twelve countries. Based on the SPAI protocol, through Government of India's existing initiatives, such as the Project Snow Leopard and Gol- GEF-UNDP's SECURE Himalaya, and international partnership on GSLEP the snow leopard range States will be able to estimate distribution and population of snow leopards and prey in a uniform manner to arrive at a National estimate for the first time. Since majority of snow leopard habitat in India lies along international boundary, partnership with other Ministries like the Ministry of Defence and local people of the bordering areas will be imperative. I wish to congratulate all the Ministry Officials who have initiated it to fill a gap in the knowledge as well as Wildlife Institute of India, Nature Conservation Foundation, and the State Governments of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh on this achievement. The Nation will now eagerly await its first snow leopard and prey population estimates and will be a new chapter in our conservation history. Date 24/07/2019 vi vii कें�ीय मं�ी सिचव पया셍वरण , वन एवं जलवायु पिरवत셍न मं�ालय पया셍वरण , वन एवं जलवायु पिरवत셍न मं�ालय भारत सरकार भारत सरकार MINISTER OF STATE SECRETARY बाबुल सुि�यो MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE सी. के. िम�ा MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE BABUL SUPRIYO GOVERNMENT OF INDIA C.K. MISHRA GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MESSAGE MESSAGE Snow leopard is one of the most charismatic-species of Big-Cats. The unique nature of the Snow leopard is the apex predator of the mountain ecosystems across 12 countries in snow leopard habitat is that wildlife is not restricted to protected areas. Snow leopards, its Central and South Asia, including India. Although snow leopards are widespread, they occur at sympatric carnivores like wolves, brown bear and prey, namely, blue sheep and Asiatic ibex naturally low densities. The main prey species of snow leopard, namely, bharal and Asiatic ibex, occur across vast landscapes of rugged mountains and undulating pastures, alongside local occur across snow leopard habitat, but in largely mutually exclusive areas. Research and surveys communities like Changpa, Pangwal, Lahauli, Spitian, Kinnaura, Pahadi, Bhotia, Monpa etc. on snow leopard and its prey started back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, due to keeping this unique natural history of snow leopard and associated wildlife in mind, the Ministry the elusive nature of snow leopards, rugged and remote habitat, carrying out distribution and of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, has embarked population assessment surveys at large scale has been challenging A holistic uniform approach upon two National level initiatives focusing on landscape level participatory approach of to estimate their distribution and population