People-wildlife conflict has endangered snow leopards, says expert

Jammu, Jan 16 (UNI) The rare 'snow leopard' species, found in the upper Himalayan regions, is facing serious threat due to increased people-wildlife conflicts, noted wildlife conservationist Rinchan Wangchuk has said.

''Serious efforts are needed to protect the 'big cat', which is a predator and an indicator species of mountain bio-diversity,'' Snow Leopard Conservancy (India) Director Rinchan Wangchuk said in a seminar at the University of Jammu hee yesterday.

''There is a strong need to reduce this (people-wildlife) conflict through local involvement in finding innovative and simple locally effective solutions,'' he said.

Initiation of environmental awareness campaigns, sensitisation of communities and strengthening community stewardship of alpine eco-systems can be some of the initiatives, Mr Wangchuk said.

Snow Leopards are found in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, including India, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, Russia, Bhutan, Mongolia, China and Central Asian countries.

Mr Wangchuk, who is passionately involved in the battle to save endangered 'snow leopard' in India, pointed out increased human encroachment, war and internal strife, poverty, habitat degradation as some of the serious threats to the wildlife.

''The real question is how to maintain depredation at a manageable level while helping local people to perceive the greater worth of having a live snow leopard than a pelt of one that took their livestock,'' said the son of Mr Wangchuk, who was conferred with Mahavir Chakra twice.

In a survey, Mr Wangchuk, said, ''We found they (farmers) were losing 13 per cent of their valuable livestock to snow leopards and wolves incurring a loss of over Rs 12,000 annually. Such a loss is a huge economic impact for a poor family... and are oftenly met with retaliatory killings of this endangered cat.'' He advocated for helping locals in improving their corral and herding techniques to reduce livestock losses. ''By this local communities can be trained and assisted to set-up home-stays, work as wildlife guides, and set-up small eco-tourism enterprises.

''The income these mountain people earn from tourists who come to see and learn about the snow leopard helps offset livestock losses, and pay for children's school fees and the cost of alternative fuel to reduce reliance on scarce fuel wood,'' Mr Wangchuk added.

UNI