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a physically harsh environment, Snow Leopards in these circumstances are most likely to
benefit from supportive schemes designed to protect local human livelihoods also.
Decline in availability of wild prey is coupled with intentional killing as a foremost threat to the
species. Populations of wild ungulates, such as Blue Sheep, Argali and Siberian Ibex, which
form an important part of the Snow Leopard's natural prey, have decreased in recent years.
Habitat fragmentation and accidental killing (by traps or poison laid for other animals) are
subsidiary threats, but to a greater or lesser degree, the various threats to Snow Leopards are
inter-related.
Loss of wild prey can be caused through degradation of ungulate habitat, mostly caused by overgrazing
of domestic livestock and by unmanaged hunting of ungulates, mainly for subsistence,
and of other prey species by humans. These circumstances can lead Snow Leopards to take
domestic animals for their prey and such incidences are often reported from areas where
populations of wild ungulates have decreased. This predation on domestic livestock leads to
conflict between herders and Snow Leopards and, as such, the lack of natural prey poses both a
direct and indirect threat to the animals.
Killings by herders in retaliation for, or in prevention of, livestock depredation are seen as the
prime threat to Snow Leopards in Bhtuan, India and Nepal, and such conflict with herders is
probably the first reason for Snow Leopard killings in Mongolia. This type of threat is also
considerable in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Himalayan region of China. For herders, the
effect of losing livestock to Snow Leopards can be devastating, sometimes amounting to the
equivalent of up to 20% of the household’s annual income. The result is that herding
communities affected by predatory attacks feel completely justified in ridding themselves of
local Snow Leopards.
Even in those countries where protection of livestock is a paramount concern, an awareness of
the potential income to be gained from Snow Leopard parts means that these enter trade, even
though this was not the primary incentive for killing. The value of a Snow Leopard skin is
relatively high and, in some instances, can be equivalent to the annual income of a herder
family.
Killing Snow Leopards for trade is considered the main threat to the species in the Russian
Federation and Kyrgyzstan, and this is probably the prime threat in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan. Although killing Snow Leopards in defence of domestic stock is reported from
Uzbekistan and from the Tyva Republic in the Russian Federation, this threat is generally less
significant to the species in the central Asian part of its range, than in the Himalayan region.
Whether killed to protect livestock, for financial gain, or for a mixture of these motives, Snow
Leopards are traded in all range States, with the exception of Bhutan, for which no information
on this subject was available.
Although it is difficult to assess the overall numbers of Snow Leopards killed each year for
trade, the information compiled in this report provides real cause for concern. A sharp rise in
Snow Leopard hunting for trade during the last decade of the twentieth century is reported,
especially from the central Asian range States and Russian Federation. This is largely attributable
to the collapse of law and order and the financial insecurity following in the wake of the
dissolution of the Soviet Union and expanded market possibilities in East Asia and the Russian
Federation. The result has been unchecked targeting of Snow Leopards, as a source of income,
54 FADING FOOTPRINTS: the killing and trade of Snow Leopards