Snow Leopard Survival Strategy - Panthera

the region’s carnivores. Conservationists working in these
underdeveloped areas that face serious economic impacts
from livestock losses have turned to incentive schemes
to motivate local communities to protect carnivores. We
describe a pilot incentive experiment in India that aims
at enhancing wild prey density by creating livestock-free
areas on common land. We also describe how income
generation from handicrafts and tourism in Mongolia is
helping to curtail poaching and retaliatory killing of snow
leopards. However, initiatives that have tried to offset the
costs of living with carnivores and to make conservation
beneficial to the affected people have thus far been small,
isolated, and heavily subsidized. Making these initiatives
more comprehensive, expanding their coverage, and
internalizing their costs are future challenges for
conserving large carnivores like the snow leopard.
Molinari-Jobin, A., P. Molinari, C. Breitenmoser-Wursten
and U. Breitenmoser. 2002. Significance of lynx Lynx
lynx predation for roe deer Capreolus capreolus and
chamois Rupicapra rupicapra mortality in the Swiss
Jura Mountains. Wildlife Biology 8(2):109-115.
Prey class selection and kill rates by lynx Lynx lynx
were studied in the Swiss Jura Mountains from March
1988 until May 1998 to evaluate the significance of lynx
predation for roe deer Capreolus capreolus and chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra. We found clear differences in
the kill rates and prey class selection between lynx
of different age, sex and breeding status. Male lynx
killed more chamois than female lynx, and chamois
was never found in kill series of subadult lynx. Family
groups had the highest kill rate. They killed an ungulate
every 5.0 days, compared to an average of 6.2-6.6 days
for single lynx. During our 10-year study, the density
of independent lynx was rather stable, ranging within
0.94-1.01 individuals/100 km 2 . Based on the observed
kill rates and the estimated lynx population structure
we calculated that lynx killed 354 +/-13 roe deer and
8713 chamois annually in the 710 km 2 study area. The
magnitude of lynx predation on roe deer and chamois
was primarily shaped by the lynx population structure. A
decline in the number of resident male lynx reduced the
number of chamois killed in the study area by 1/4 of the
previous number due to the difference in prey selection
of male and female lynx. There was a difference in the
most frequently killed age and sex classes between roe
deer and chamois: lynx killed more male chamois (39%)
than females or fawns, whereas in roe deer, does (38%)
were most often killed. By altering adult survival, lynx
predation has a significant impact on prey population
dynamics. Lynx killed a maximum of 9% of the roe deer
and 11% of the chamois spring population. Considering
the differences in the recruitment potential of the two
prey species, lynx has a greater impact on chamois than
on roe deer.
Mowat, G. and C. Strobeck. 2000. Estimating
population size of grizzly bears using hair capture,
DNA profiling, and mark-recapture analysis. Journal
of Wildlife Management 64:183-193.
We used. DNA analysis to estimate grizzly bear (Ursus
arctos) population size in a 9,866 km 2 area in southeast
British Columbia and a 5,030 km 2 area in southwest
Alberta. We sampled bears by removing hair at bait
sites surrounded by a single strand of barbed, wire. DNA
profiling with microsatellites of the root portion of the
hair was used to identify individuals. We collected hair
from 109 different bears and had 25 recaptures in 5 10-
day trapping sessions in British Columbia. In Alberta we
collected hair from 37 bears and had 9 recaptures in 4
14-day sessions. A model in program CAPTURE (M-h)
that accommodates heterogeneity in individual capture
probabilities estimated the population size in British
Columbia as 262 (95% CI = 224-313) and in Alberta as
74 (60- 100). We believe that hair capture combined, with
DNA profiling is a promising technique for estimating
distribution and abundance of bears and potentially
many other species. This approach is of special interest
to management biologists because it can be applied at the
scale conservation and management decisions are made.
Murray, D. L., C. A. Kapke, J. F. Evermann and T. K.
Fuller. 1999. Infectious disease and the conservation
of free-ranging large carnivores. Animal Conservation
2:241-254.
Large carnivores are of vital importance to the stability
and integrity of most ecosystems, but recent declines in
free-ranging populations have highlighted the potentially
devastating effect of infectious diseases on their
conservation. We reviewed the literature on infectious
diseases of 34 large (maximum body mass of adults
>20 kg) terrestrial carnivore species, 18 of which are
considered to be threatened in the wild, and examined
reports of antibody prevalence (seroprevalence) and
cases of infection, mortality and population decline. Of
52 diseases examined, 44% were viral, 31% bacterial and
the remainder were protozoal or fungal. Many infections
were endemic in carnivores and/or infected multiple
taxonomic families, with the majority probably occurring
via inhalation or ingestion. Most disease studies
consisted of serological surveys for disease antibodies,
and antibody detection tended to be widespread implying
that exposure to micro-organisms was common.
Seroprevalence was higher in tropical than temperate
areas, and marginally higher for infections known
to occur in multiple carnivore groups. Confirmation
of active infection via micro-organism recovery was
less common for ursids than other taxonomic groups.
Published descriptions of disease-induced population
decline or extinction were rare, and most outbreaks were
allegedly the result of direct transmission of rabies or
canine distemper virus (CDV) from abundant carnivore
species to less-common large carnivores. We conclude
that the threat of disease epidemics in large carnivores
may be serious if otherwise lethal infections are endemic
in reservoir hosts and transmitted horizontally among
88 | SNOW LEOPARD SURVIVAL STRATEGY