towards project snow leopard - Nature Conservation Foundation

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
India’s high altitude Himalayan landscape is home
to a unique wildlife assemblage that includes
highly endangered populations of species such
as the snow leopard Uncia uncia and the blacknecked
crane Grus nigricollis, two species of bears
Ursus spp., red panda Ailurus fulgens, and several
species of mountain ungulates, to name a few.
This landscape is unique in that the wildlife here
is not restricted to protected areas, but occurs
across the entire landscape. At the same time,
traditional resource use by local communities in
the form of livestock grazing, collection of fuelwood
and medicinal plants, also occurs across the
landscape. The region’s aesthetic, historical, and
cultural importance dates back several millennia.
The region provides essential ecosystem services
and harbours river systems vital for the nation’s
food security.
These mountainous ecosystems and their
wildlife face a variety of threats today. The snow
leopard, wolf Canis lupus, and other carnivores are
The endangered snow leopard Uncia Uncia
widely persecuted in retaliation against livestock
depredation. Many mountain ungulate populations, important prey of these carnivores, are
being depleted and lost due to competition with livestock, as well as hunting for meat. Seasonally
migrating livestock herds, and livestock imported into the region for the army pose a serious risk of
spreading exotic diseases to wildlife. Overstocking of rangelands with livestock is causing vegetation
degradation, which threatens the sustainability of pastoral production as well as the survival of
wildlife populations. There are increasing linkages between local persecution of wildlife and the
larger illegal wildlife trade. Unplanned tourism threatens sensitive and biologically important high
altitude wetlands. Although in many areas there has been substantial cultural tolerance for wildlife,
this is fast eroding in the face of development and human-wildlife conflicts.