Hi,
Is there any data that shows the drop in poaching after these initiatives?
Many communities living close to forests have wild cats killing livestock. Is that an issue here too?
Hi Rachna,
You made a very good point here. I will answer it with a recent anecdote of an incidence that took place in 2008-2009:
In South Gobi, which is one of the areas where the Snow Leopard Enterprise functions, the Snow Leopard Trust also has a long-term ecological study going on. As part of this study, several snow leopards are being collared and monitored remotely using satellite based technology. In 2008, a herder who was apparently upset with some wild animal killing his livestock regularly, set up a trap-jaw foot snare outside the livestock corral. He expected it to be a wolf, though was not really sure. In a couple of days his snare trapped an animal in the night and the herder went out and shot in the darkness. Next morning he found it to be a snow leopard, that too a collared one! News spread fast and soon reached the government officials and women who also happen to be part of the Snow Leopard Enterprise. As part of the contract, they were about to lose the bonus, about $1,000 or so, as a snow leopard was 'illegally killed' in their area. This economic loss irked the women enough to mob the Ger of the herder who then assured them that he will pay an amount equal to the bonus that they were entitled for had he not killed the snow leopard. In a recent news from the field, we got to know that he has paid the money to the women through the Governor of this province. This amount is additional to the amount he now owes to the government as fine for killing an endangered species protected by law.
While this story earmarks how SLE works not only as an incentive driven conservation program deterring poachers/hunters, it also answers your second question- that there is conflict in snow leopard habitats due to wild cats killing livestock. That said, there is a very successful Livestock Insurance Program that SLT initiated in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India which works efficiently towards offsetting the livestock losses through a community driven program. The success of this program in India, and the need for it to be replicated in Mongolia, given the incidence of retaliatory killing encouraged us to introduce it in the latter. The program is in its nascent stage in Mongolia, but has already started showing good results in terms of enhanced interactions between community members and successful resolution of several cases of livestock depredation by the representatives of the community driven insurance program.
In another study that attempted to comparing protected areas (with little or no human use), and non-protected areas (where SLE operates); we found that the snow leopard occupancy was nearly similar in both, which largely signifies how despite this human-wildlife interface, snow leopards are doing fine in an area where SLE has been improving lives of hundreds of people.
Comments
Hi,
Is there any data that shows the drop in poaching after these initiatives?
Many communities living close to forests have wild cats killing livestock. Is that an issue here too?
Hi Rachna,
You made a very good point here. I will answer it with a recent anecdote of an incidence that took place in 2008-2009:
In South Gobi, which is one of the areas where the Snow Leopard Enterprise functions, the Snow Leopard Trust also has a long-term ecological study going on. As part of this study, several snow leopards are being collared and monitored remotely using satellite based technology. In 2008, a herder who was apparently upset with some wild animal killing his livestock regularly, set up a trap-jaw foot snare outside the livestock corral. He expected it to be a wolf, though was not really sure. In a couple of days his snare trapped an animal in the night and the herder went out and shot in the darkness. Next morning he found it to be a snow leopard, that too a collared one! News spread fast and soon reached the government officials and women who also happen to be part of the Snow Leopard Enterprise. As part of the contract, they were about to lose the bonus, about $1,000 or so, as a snow leopard was 'illegally killed' in their area. This economic loss irked the women enough to mob the Ger of the herder who then assured them that he will pay an amount equal to the bonus that they were entitled for had he not killed the snow leopard. In a recent news from the field, we got to know that he has paid the money to the women through the Governor of this province. This amount is additional to the amount he now owes to the government as fine for killing an endangered species protected by law.
While this story earmarks how SLE works not only as an incentive driven conservation program deterring poachers/hunters, it also answers your second question- that there is conflict in snow leopard habitats due to wild cats killing livestock. That said, there is a very successful Livestock Insurance Program that SLT initiated in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India which works efficiently towards offsetting the livestock losses through a community driven program. The success of this program in India, and the need for it to be replicated in Mongolia, given the incidence of retaliatory killing encouraged us to introduce it in the latter. The program is in its nascent stage in Mongolia, but has already started showing good results in terms of enhanced interactions between community members and successful resolution of several cases of livestock depredation by the representatives of the community driven insurance program.
In another study that attempted to comparing protected areas (with little or no human use), and non-protected areas (where SLE operates); we found that the snow leopard occupancy was nearly similar in both, which largely signifies how despite this human-wildlife interface, snow leopards are doing fine in an area where SLE has been improving lives of hundreds of people.
You may also visit our website www.snowleopard.org for more information.
Regards,
Koustubh Sharma, PhD
Regional Field Biologist
Snow Leopard Trust
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