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north-west Himalayan tourist towns of Srinagar and Manali (Osborne et al., 1983). No Snow
Leopard bones have yet been positively identified in trade in India (M. Misra, TRAFFIC
consultant, in litt., 2002). No comprehensive market surveys for Snow Leopard products have
been undertaken recently in India, but TRAFFIC India compiled information on incidences of
poaching and trade involving Snow Leopards over several years (see Table 4). Further
indication of trade in Snow Leopard products is available as a result of an inventory of fur items
with furriers in Jammu and Kashmir, conducted by State authorities, in 1997. This inventory
was initiated with the aim of compensating furriers before all furs of protected species were
confiscated and the fur trade closed (M. Misra, TRAFFIC consultant, in litt., 2002). Table 5
shows the number of Snow Leopard skin items reported to the authorities. Although this is not
the total number of Snow Leopard products stocked by furriers (as not all reported their stocks),
a considerable number of Snow Leopard skins and garments were held. Following the
inventory, the compensation scheme ran into difficulties and, instead of being destroyed, the
skins and garments remained with the furriers (M. Misra, TRAFFIC consultant, in litt., 2002).
Table 5
Findings of an inventory of furriers in Jammu and Kashmir in 1997.
Fur item Quantity Price per item (INR)
Snow Leopard skin 98 10 000 (USD200)
Snow Leopard coat (long) 11 50 000 (USD1030)
Snow Leopard coat (short) 5 30 000 (USD620
Mounted Snow Leopard skin 6 11 000 (USD230)
Snow Leopard head 1 100 (USD20)
Snow Leopard hats and gloves 8 200 (USD4)
Source: Anon., 1997.
Mongolia
Conflict with herders
Snow Leopard predation of livestock is causing significant problems in most areas of the
species’s range in Mongolia. Consequently, killings of Snow Leopards by herders, to prevent
such attacks, are considered one of the greatest threats posed to the species in Mongolia
(Munkhtsog, 2002). It is assumed that most Snow Leopard skins offered for sale in markets
local to herders, or in Ulaanbaatar, are from Snow Leopards killed by herders wanting to protect
their stock. Snow Leopard killings of livestock can constitute a significant economic loss to
local herders, who often are entirely dependent on their herds for subsistence and additional
cash income, for example from the sale of wool. In recent years many herder families have
suffered dramatic losses in livestock (up to 80% in some areas) after exceptionally harsh winters
in 2002 and 2003 (B. Munkhtsog, in litt., 2003; Anon., 2000c). At the same time, the market
value for cashmere wool dropped from an average of USD40/kg, in 2001, to USD10 to 15/kg,
in 2003 (Munkhtsog, 2002), exacerbating the effect of any predation on domestic stock by Snow
Leopards. Authorities in Mongolia recorded the case, in 2000, of a Snow Leopard killed by a
herder in retribution for the taking of five sheep and two young cows, in the Bayanzurkh
FADING FOOTPRINTS: the killing and trade of Snow Leopards 31