As Himalayas thaw, snow leopards scramble for habitat: Q&A with Bikram Shrestha

KATHMANDU — When researchers final yr confirmed the presence of the manul, the “world’s grumpiest cat,” on the world’s highest mountain, they instantly checked out previous information of the elusive feline in Nepal. And so they discovered that the primary individual to substantiate the cat’s presence within the nation was one Bikram Shrestha.

It appeared becoming, provided that Shrestha — who just lately accomplished his Ph.D. on the World Change Analysis Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles College — has in depth analysis expertise within the Himalayas.

However his cat of concern is of a heftier pedigree than the manul (Otocolobus manul): it’s the king of the mountains itself, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia).

Shrestha studied zoology at Tribhuvan College in Kathmandu and started his analysis profession in 2004 by learning the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) on Sagarmatha (often known as Mount Everest), a wild goat thought of a key prey species for snow leopards.

He went on to work for varied organizations such because the U.S.-based Snow Leopard Conservancy and WWF earlier than pursuing his doctorate in 2014.

His staff was additionally the primary to substantiate the presence of three snow leopards in lower-elevation areas in western Nepal’s Mustang district.

Throughout his doctorate research, Shrestha carried out in depth fieldwork utilizing scat evaluation and digicam traps within the Annapurna and Sagarmatha areas of Nepal.

It was his staff that discovered, almost 17 years after the affirmation of the large cat within the Sagarmatha area, that the inhabitants of snow leopards there was fragmented into two, with restricted communication and breeding between members of the 2 teams.

Researcher Bikram Shrestha scanning the Gokyo valley with Sagarmatha within the background. Picture courtesy of Bikram Shrestha.

In a brand new e book that he co-edited, titled Snow Leopard in Nepal, Shrestha describes his Ph.D. work. Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi spoke with Bikram Shrestha by cellphone just lately to find out about his work. The next interview has been translated from Nepali and evenly edited for size and readability.

Mongabay: In your e book, you point out that local weather change is prone to have an effect on snow leopards in Nepal’s Himalayas. Might you clarify the way you got here to this conclusion and what are the potential impacts?

Bikram Shrestha: As a part of my examine, we ready a mannequin to replicate the habitat suitability of snow leopards all through their vary in Nepal. We checked out 19 totally different variables, such because the slope of the terrain, temperature, rainfall, and distance to the closest village, which may have an effect on the distribution of snow leopards in Nepal.

For modeling functions, we used knowledge from our fieldwork within the Annapurna and Sagarmatha areas between 2014 and 2016 utilizing digicam traps in addition to DNA evaluation of snow leopard scat. For the remainder of the nation, we used knowledge from varied printed and unpublished sources.

Our mannequin exhibits that annual imply temperature and precipitation, that are carefully linked to local weather change, are one the key elements affecting snow leopard habitat in Nepal. The mannequin means that in a warming world, the decrease restrict of distribution of the animal can be pushed upward. Because of this snow leopard populations will shift northward when the typical minimal temperature will increase. For instance, if a snow leopard resides in an space with a mean minimal temperature of 5° Celsius [41° Fahrenheit], it’s going to transfer additional north when the identical temperature reaches 6 or 7°C [43-45°F]. This means that we must transfer additional north to seek out snow leopards dwelling of their southernmost habitat.

A camera trap image of a snow leopard at Sagarmatha. Image courtesy of Bikram Shrestha.
A digicam entice picture of a snow leopard at Sagarmatha. Picture courtesy of Bikram Shrestha.

Mongabay: What might be a number of the penalties of such a shift for the animals?

Bikram Shrestha: Primarily based on what we all know at this time, we will foresee two penalties. First, the general geographical measurement of the habitat will shrink, and corridors [passages between habitats] in addition to stepping stones [lower-elevation areas used as extensions to habitats] will turn into unfavorable. This might have an effect on the intermingling of snow leopards dwelling in several components of its habitat.

Mongabay: Because the inhabitants shifts upward in a warming world, it is usually prone to encounter a receding snowline within the Himalayas. Will the receding snowline within the Himalayas create favorable habitats for snow leopards?

Bikram Shrestha: Though it’s known as a snow leopard, it doesn’t actually stay in snow. When the snowline recedes, it exposes the black rock beneath that captures quite a lot of warmth. Because of this we might not see grass and different kinds of meals required by snow leopards’ prey. If the prey will not be there, it might be troublesome for snow leopards to outlive in such circumstances. However much more analysis is required into the difficulty.

Mongabay: What sort of analysis is required now to enact insurance policies and applications to enhance the probabilities of their survival?

Bikram Shrestha: The subsequent step is to determine local weather refugia the place the animal can survive local weather extremes. These sorts of refugia are presumably current in areas with alpine grasslands. We additionally must make it possible for these refugia and essential motion corridors have sufficient prey species for snow leopards. My work with different species means that northwestern components of the nation may serve such a function.

Nevertheless, there’s additionally a chance that because the habitat shrinks in Nepal, we might not have such refugia in Nepal. We have to discover out.

The opposite points that we have to cope with are associated to the prey species and battle with people.

Annapurna mountains. “When the snowline recedes, it exposes the black rock underneath that captures a lot of heat.” Image by William Muzi via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Annapurna mountains. “When the snowline recedes, it exposes the black rock beneath that captures quite a lot of warmth.” Picture by William Muzi through Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Mongabay: How so?

Bikram Shrestha: We have to make sure that we now have sufficient grass and meals for prey species. Snow leopards are depending on these species for his or her meals. Nevertheless, there are numerous threats to those grasslands as folks additionally graze their livestock there.

As snow leopards transfer to larger altitudes, people are additionally doing so, growing the probabilities of battle. We now have seen within the Annapurna area that apples are being grown at larger altitudes than earlier than resulting from hotter temperatures. Alpine grasslands, the place each snow leopard prey and human livestock graze, are additionally doing nicely in these altitudes.

Mongabay: As a part of your Ph.D. mission, you additionally carried out surveys on human attitudes towards snow leopards. What have been the findings?

Bikram Shrestha: We requested native residents questions associated to their angle towards snow leopards and the way its threats could be minimized. We have been shocked that round 50% had a destructive angle towards the animal, 15% even stated the animal must be killed.

This exhibits that there’s an pressing must provide you with mitigation measures to handle the state of affairs. This might be finished by means of correct compensation applications and offering predator-proof corrals [for livestock].

Mongabay: What in regards to the weight loss plan of the snow leopard?

Bikram Shrestha: Our examine discovered that, normally, snow leopards’ weight loss plan consists of round 57% wild prey and the remainder home prey. Nevertheless, the pattern is totally different throughout winter and summer season. Often it goes after large mammals in the summertime and small animals within the winter. Possibly it’s as a result of its vitality necessities are low through the winter.

This exhibits that small mammals similar to martens are additionally essential prey species for snow leopards, particularly through the winter. That additionally must be accounted for in any conservation plans we devise.

This text by Abhaya Raj Joshi was first printed by Mongabay.com on 14 March 2023. Lead Picture: A snow leopard captured by a digicam entice. Picture courtesy of Bikram Shrestha.


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