Study reveals potential new disease threats for wild snow leopards

JUNE 7, 2019

by Taylor & Francis

The first study to investigate disease threats to wild snow leopards has detected that exposure to infections may pose a threat to this highly vulnerable species, as well as local people and their livestock.

The results of the study, published in Infection Ecology & Epidemiology, detected antibodies in the blood of wild cats to important pathogens that can also infect humans and other species.

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are a threatened and highly vulnerable species of the mountainous ranges of Central Asia. There are now as few as 4,000 snow leopards in the wild, and their numbers continue to decline. They face many threats, including poaching, habitat loss, the impact of climate change and conflict with herders. Emerging infectious diseases can particularly impact on species where populations are already depleted, and genetic diversity may be low. However, information is currently lacking about whether wild snow leopards are also under threat from disease.

Prompted by the discovery of four snow leopards with unexplained causes of death in the South Gobi Province of Mongolia in 2011, an international team of researchers set out to investigate important zoonotic pathogens that may impact conservation efforts. The researchers decided to target disease-causing pathogens that can circulate between different species, as the area is also home to many other wild animals, as well approximately 90 herder families and their goats, horses and domestic dogs.

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Three new sub-species of snow leopard discovered

Date: May 11, 2017
Source: Oxford University Press USA

A recent research paper in the Journal of Heredity reveals that there are three sub-species of snow leopard. Until now, researchers had assumed this species, Panthera uncia, was monotypic.

Studying snow leopard scat from wildlife trails and marking sites revealed three primary genetic clusters, differentiated by geographical location: the Northern group, Panthera uncia irbis, found in the Altai region, the Central group, Panthera uncia uncioides, found in the core Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau, and the Western group, Panthera uncia uncia, found in the Tian Shan, Pamir, and trans-Himalaya regions. This is the first range-wide genetic analysis of wild snow leopard populations.

The snow leopard is considered the world's most elusive large big cat and inhabits a vast area of around 1.6 million km2 across 12 countries in Asia. It is a high-altitude specialist that primarily occupies mountains above 3,000m in elevation, a habitat characterized by low oxygen levels, low productivity, temperature extremes, aridity, and harsh climactic conditions. The snow leopard is the largest carnivore in its high-altitude habitat in many areas and is under substantial threat throughout its range.

The snow leopard remains the last of the five big cats to be the subject of a comprehensive subspecies assessment. This gap in research is a direct result of three challenges: the snow leopard inhabits remote regions that are often politically unstable and therefore harder to access, opportunities for radio or GPS tracking are limited because snow leopards are difficult to observe and trap in the wild, and most founders of the captive snow leopard population have an unknown origin.

Genetic sampling via the collection of scat along wildlife trails and marking sites is a non-invasive, effective, and efficient way to survey snow leopard populations and has become an important research approach, replacing previous methods which primarily relied on samples from hunter harvested or captive animals, tracking studies, or museum specimens.

The patterns of variation amongst the snow leopard subspecies suggest a 'barrier effect' due to the desert basins in the area, with the northern subspecies isolated by the Gobi Desert and the central and western species divided by the trans-Himalayas. Follow-up studies are needed to perform additional genetic analyses to provide more information on connectivity and structure within each region.

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Cat scat: Research examines food habits of snow leopards

Date: August 4, 2016

Source: University of Delaware

In order to create effective conservation programs to help protect and conserve populations of endangered snow leopards, whose estimated population is between 4,500-7,500 in the wild, University of Delaware researchers are studying their scat to try and understand what the large cats are eating.

While studying snow leopard scat is one of the least invasive ways to look at what the animals are eating and gauge their food preferences, according to a new UD study it may not always be the most accurate. Researchers found that past food-habit studies on snow leopards could have been biased by the inclusion of non-target species in fecal analysis, potentially misinforming managers about the prey requirements that allow snow leopard populations to succeed.

The research was led by Sarah Weiskopf, who recently received her master's degree from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and who did the work as part of her undergraduate senior thesis; Kyle McCarthy, assistant professor of wildlife ecology; and Shannon Kachel, a graduate student who works with McCarthy. The findings were published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin.

As a result of non-target species possibly being included in past research studies, it has been thought that snow leopards -- who lack an abundance of natural prey -- consume great numbers of small mammals such as marmots, hares and pika, as well as wild ungulates, which are larger hooved animals such as ibex.

While estimates of the amount of small mammals snow leopards consume may have been overstated, the importance of large ungulate populations to the snow leopard's diets may have been understated, as this study suggests stable snow leopard populations are possibly more reliant upon large ungulate prey than previously understood.

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Elusive Snow Leopard Collared in Kyrgyzstan

By Tia Ghose, Senior Writer | May 24, 2016 12:45pm ET

Scientists have collared an elusive snow leopard in the remote, rugged mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

The female cat was collared in the Sarychat-Ertash Strict Nature Reserve of Eastern Kyrgyzstan by biologists with the wild cat conservation organization Panthera, the State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry and the National Academy of Sciences. The mama cat showed signs of having lactated in the past, suggesting she had given birth  to at least one cub. This was the second time in six months that conservationists had succeeded in spotting and collaring a fertile female snow leopard in the country.

The sighting suggests the population of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in this region could be recovering , after decades of relentless poaching, according to the scientists involved.

"It is so exciting to have two young productive females collared early in this study. It is a clear indication that Sarychat-Ertash, a place where snow leopards were nearly extirpated in the 1990s, is once again a stronghold for the species," Tom McCarthy, executive director of Panthera's Snow Leopard Program, said in a statement. "Kyrgyzstan can be very proud of this turnaround."

Mysterious creatures

The mysterious snow leopard lurks in the frigid, mountainous regions of 12 different countries in Asia. Yet these majestic creatures are often incredibly hard to spot; they glide silently through the snow on big, padded paws, and their thick, mottled white coats provide the perfect camouflage against the rocky, snow-flecked areas they prowl. The big cats are also highly reclusive by nature , meaning many locals who live alongside the cats have never seen them.

For decades, shepherds have hunted the cats to keep them from preying on their flocks.  Poachers have also targeted the majestic snow beasts for their fur and internal organs, which are prized in Chinese medicine.

The snow leopard has been listed as endangered since at least 1986 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. However, in recent years, scientists and lawmakers have increased conservation efforts dramatically, expanding the size of protected regions and using everything from camera traps to DNA analysis of snow leopard poop to learn more about the elusive creatures. Those efforts have begun to pay off, and researchers estimate that the population is on the rise, with between 4,500 and 10,000 snow leopards now living throughout Asia.

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Snow leopards face 'new climate change threat'

23 October 2015 

Warmer temperatures are threatening to shrink the habitat of the snow leopard and weaken their struggle against extinction, a report says.

Conservation charity WWF says more than a third of the animal's mountain living areas could become uninhabitable because of climate change.

It says plants and trees there are not able to survive in warmer temperatures.

The report describes snow leopards as one of the most beautiful and enigmatic big cats.

"But it is also one of the most elusive and endangered," it says.

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U’khand to begin count of elusive snow leopards from June 16

TNN | Jun 7, 2015, 11.19 PM IST

DEHRADUN: In a first-time initiative, the Uttarakhand forest department is embarking on an ambitious project to estimate the population of the elusive snow leopard that inhabits the higher reaches of the Himalayas. The project, which is set to begin from June 16, will have several teams from the department trek to the areas where trans-Himalayan big cat has its habitat. These include places like the Gangotri National Park, Nanda Devi Biosphere, Valley of flowers, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Govind National Park and select high-altitude areas of Bagheshwar, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts. Each team is expected to be led by an expert from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Considering that the snow leopard has been sighted very rarely by expeditions specifically mounted to trace it, sources in the forest department acknowledged that sightings of the elusive animals might be bleak. "Besides sightings, we will take records from the camera traps, collect scat samples, droppings and other evidences such as scratching and scrapping for estimation," said Dhananjay Mohan, chief conservator of forests and head of the wild animals estimation. He added that besides snow leopard, the teams would also count Himalayan thar and black and brown bear.

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Photo proof of snow leopards in newly created refuge in Siberia

Camera trap images have been taken of snow leopards in the newly created National Park of Sylyugem National Park in the Altai mountains of Siberia.

Aleksei Kuzhlekov, a national park researcher, reports that, "four pictures of snow leopard were taken at different times, probably of three or four individuals".

The Saylyugem National Park was created five years ago to protect wildlife in that region of Siberia, especially the snow leopard and argali mountain sheep, in an area totaling 118,380 hectares.

One of the camera-trapped images of 

Siberian snow leopard

The creation of the reserve was much needed, because poachers had killed more than 10 snow leopards in the area in the 1990s alone, to sell their pelts and body parts on the black market for Chinese medicine.

The snow leopard is in the endangered category on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species with as few as 4,000 left in the world, of which only 2,500 are likely to be breeding. 

The head of the local conservation department, Igor Ivanitsky, adds: "We were able to place the cameras in the right place by painstakingly working out the movements routes of the cats.

Read on ...

$1 million raised to save Snow Leopards

Snow Leopard cub. Snow Leopard Enterprise works with local communities to protect the big cats in the wild.

Snow Leopard Enterprises has reached a milestone sum in the amount of money it has raised toward saving the endangered Snow Leopard. A total of $1 million has been raised in the past 10 years by local herders who create handicrafts to sell for the cause, and thanks to the support of its many partners and donors. The money directly benefits the endangered animals as well as poor local communities. 

“Snow Leopard Enterprises is not an aid programme, but a conservation and economic development initiative,” explains Brad Rutherford, Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust, “It changes lives and empowers local communities to become stewards of the ecosystems they live in.”

Over the years, Snow Leopard Enterprises has grown from just a handful of communities to including over 1000 families across three countries; Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan. 

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Surprising Ally For Snow Leopards: Buddhist Monks

The endangered snow leopard has some allies in unexpected places.

The leopards are being protected by hundreds of Buddhist monasteries on the Tibetan plateau, new research suggests.

The scientists, who detailed their study last week in the journal Conservation Biology, found that half of the monasteries are within the snow leopards' habitat and that monks patrol the wilderness to prevent poachers from killing the rare cats.

"Buddhism has as a basic tenet -- the love, respect, and compassion for all living beings," said study co-author George Schaller, a biologist with the endangered cat conservation group Panthera, in a statement. "This report illuminates how science and the spiritual values of Tibetan Buddhism can combine their visions and wisdom to help protect China's natural heritage."

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Three snow leopards caught on film in China

Rare footage of snow leopards

July 2013. An incredibly rare piece of video footage has emerged from China, where a video of three snow leopards together in the same place has been captured. 

The video of the leopards was captured in the mountains of Yushu Autonomous Province on the border of Tibet. To put this in context, the first photo of a snow leopard in the wild wasn't taken until the renowned naturalist George Shaller snapped on in 1970.

There are thought to be a maximum 7000 snow leopards alive in the world, though some estimates go as low as a half of that, spread across and around the Himalayas and nearby mountain ranges in Central Asia.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/snow-leopard-video.html

Snow leopard cubs – A video from Tajikistan

Snow leopards thriving in Tajikistan

December 2012. Known as the ‘Roof of the World,' the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan are situated at the intersection of several of Asia's greatest mountain ranges, and fittingly may represent some of the richest habitat for ‘Asia's Mountain Ghost' - the elusive snow leopard.

300 snow leopards in the Pamirs
Today, as many as 300 of the remaining 3,500-7,000 wild snow leopards are thought to live in the Tajik Pamirs - an area which provides a potentially critical link between the southern and northern regions of the snow leopard's range, and may serve as a vital genetic corridor for the species.

Given the potential of this region as one of the world's last snow leopard strongholds, big cat charity  Panthera recently carried out two extensive camera trap surveys in the Pamir Mountains, including one in Tajikistan's Jartygumbez Istyk River region in collaboration with University of Delaware graduate student Shannon Kachel and the Tajik Academy of Sciences.

While reviewing photos from the survey's 40 camera traps, Panthera field staff recently uncovered incredible new images of a snow leopard mother and her two cubs, which they have made into a video. The playful cubs are shown licking and pawing icicles and attempting to climb a rock. Along with this entertaining footage, also included are stunning images of the snow leopard mother and one of her cubs inspecting the camera trap, their quizzical faces pressed up against the camera lens.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/snow-leopard-tajikistan.html

Asian big cats in danger - Not just tigers

As world leaders focus on tigers, other Asian big cats are killed for skins & bones

October 2012. With the 2nd Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation in Bhutan discussing the plight of snow leopards, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has warned that it and Asia's other big cats are in danger of being forgotten.

"The tiger is very much a symbol of the rampant demand and trade threatening the survival of other Asian big cats," said Debbie Banks, Head of EIA's Tiger Campaign. "But we know that for every tiger taken, about six leopards are being killed." (Read four leopards killed every week in India)

Leopards and snow leopards
With the key focus on wild tigers, EIA is concerned that leopards are not getting proper consideration, even as they continue to be hammered by poachers. EIA has produced Briefing on Snow Leopards in Illegal Trade - Asia's Forgotten Cats for Conference delegates.

Recent analysis shows that since 2000, at least 4,000 Asian big cat skins have entered into the trans-Himalayan trade, with evidence suggesting the majority are destined for China. Nearly 3,400 were leopard skins.

In addition to the seizures, EIA's undercover investigators have documented the sale of skins and other body parts of hundreds more Asian big cats throughout western and central China.

Snow leopards under threat
Snow leopards are under serious threat, with a global population estimated to be fewer than 6,000. EIA's new briefing reveals investigators have recorded 100 snow leopard skins in China since 2005, and reports a further 151 seized across the animals' range.

"The skins seized and those uncovered by our investigators are just the tip of the iceberg," said Banks. "Many more are getting through."

Tiger, leopard and snow leopard skins are in demand in China for use in taxidermy, luxury home décor and clothing, with a secondary market in their bones for medicinal uses.

Asian big cat Range States (countries in which these animals are naturally found) are required to report to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) on the status of the illegal trade in these species and efforts to prevent it. To date no country has reported on the status of the snow leopard, and only two have reported on the leopard.

"Tigers remain at serious risk because of demand," added Banks. "So too do the other Asian big cats. At the very least, leopard and snow leopard Range States need to be reporting what actions they are taking to protect these wonderful animals from the illegal trade in their body parts and derivatives."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/asian-cats.html

Elusive Snow Leopards Collared for Science

Scientists have outfitted two snow leopards in a wild corner of Afghanistan with satellite-tracking collars, a first for the country and a boon for researchers trying to better understand the habits and favored habitats of the endangered cats.

The snow leopards, both male, were captured in Afghanistan's northeastern Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of desolate, windswept mountains sandwiched between Pakistan and Tajikistan, and a spot where camera traps first snapped the elusive cats in 2011.

The first snow leopard was captured and released on May 27, the second on June 8.

Researchers weighed and measured the animals, took DNA samples and fitted them with satellite collars before sending them on their way.


In the intervening weeks, the first cat has traveled more than 78 miles (125 kilometers) and the second cat has traveled more than 95 miles (153 km), according to a statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society, one of the main participants in the field work.


A film crew from Nat Geo WILD was on hand to document the research, for a film that is slated to air in December.


Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/21649-snow-leopards-tracked.html

Snow leopard cubs filmed in den for first time

For the first time ever, researchers in Mongolia have been able to locate and video cubs within a den site belonging to the rare and endangered snow leopard - Scroll down or click here to see video

July 2012. After a month of intensive searching, an international research team has located the den sites of two female snow leopards and captured astonishing videos of a young cub resting inside a den with its mother.

The research team has been tracking snow leopards in Mongolia's South Gobi desert since 2008 using GPS radio collars. In May, two of the study's females began to restrict their daily movements to smaller and smaller areas, which the team interpreted as a signal that both were preparing to give birth. Traveling through steep and rocky mountain outcroppings, the team followed VHF signals transmitted by the collars and finally located the dens on 21 June.

High up in steep canyons
Only six kilometres apart, both dens were high up in steep canyons. The first den was in a big cave with a man-made rock wall blocking most of the entrance. ‘As we stood outside the den we could hear the cub and smell the cats but not see anything inside the den,' noted researcher Orjan Johansson of Sweden. He and his colleagues, Sumbee Tomorsukh of Mongolia, Mattia Colombo of Italy, and Carol Esson of Australia, had to think fast and decided to tape a camera to their VHF antenna. Extending the camera over the wall they were able to film the inside of the cave. Their remarkable footage shows a female snow leopard lying tucked against the wall staring at the entrance with a paw over her tiny cub.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/snow-leopard-video.html#cr