A spotlight on snow leopard conservation in China

Abstract

China holds the greatest proportion of the snow leopard's (Panthera uncia) global range and is central to their conservation. The country is also undergoing unprecedented economic growth, which increases both the threats to the snow leopard and the opportunities for its conservation. In this paper we aim to review published literature (from 1950 to 2014) in English and Mandarin on snow leopard ecology and conservation in China in order to identify thematic and geographic research gaps and propose research priorities. We first retrieved all published items that considered snow leopards in China (n = 106). We extracted from these papers 274 reports of snow leopard presence in China. We then reviewed a subset of papers (n = 33) of this literature, which specifically focused on snow leopard ecology and conservation within China. We introduced a thematic framework that allows a structured and comprehensive assessment of findings. This framework recognizes 4 critical and interrelated topics underpinning snow leopard ecology and conservation: habitat (distribution and protected area coverage); prey (distribution and abundance, predator-prey relationships); human interactions (hunting and trade, livestock interactions and conflicts); and the underlying policy context. Significant gains in knowledge as well as research gaps and priorities are discussed with reference to our framework. The modest quantity and limited scope of published research on the snow leopard in China calls for a continued and intensified effort to inform and support national conservation policies.

In Silico Structural and Functional Analysis of Wrky1 and Wrky3 Genes in the Selected Cereal Crops

“…Except for leopard's parts being traded for traditional culture and use in Chinese medicine (Sung, 1998;Li et al, 2013), yet the Chinese government has already forbidden the use of leopard products used in medicine, such as leopard balm, and other individuals were killed without a specific reason. Until the beginning of the 1980s, hunting was legal in China (Alexander et al, 2016). Nowadays, this practice still threatens wildlife and not only ungulates are hunted or poached, but even the NCL, an apex predator (that may be considered as dangerous for human) is undergoing hunting (Dou et al, 2014;Jacbson et al, 2016).…”

“…Therefore, when native prey is scarce, carnivores must feed on livestock. Currently, hunting is not legal in China; three decades ago, the situation was not the same (Alexander et al, 2016). This activity contributed largely to prey depletion in habitats as local people were harvesting game without any restriction.…”

“…From comparisons with another Panthera genus in China, the Snow Leopard, Alexander et al (2016) found many studies focused on this species (n= 106; with applied articles n= 33), so efforts must be made. While leopard research has increased in China, study efforts were mostly focused on the sub-species with the greatest remaining range whereas sub-species that needed serious care were ignored.…”

The status of snow leopards Panthera uncia, and high altitude use by common leopards P. pardus, in north-west Yunnan, China

“…The snow leopard Panthera uncia is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (Jackson et al, 2008), and China is the most important country for conservation of the species because it has the most potential habitat and the largest population of snow leopards (Snow Leopard Network, 2014; Alexander et al, 2016a). The north-west of Yunnan province in south-west China is a biodiversity hotspot at the edge of the snow leopard's range (Mittermeier et al, 2004; McCarthy et al, 2016).…”

Presence of the snow leopard Panthera uncia confirmed at four sites in the Chinese Tianshan Mountains

“…China is thus crucial to snow leopard conservation, but there are many challenges to the conservation of the species, including poaching, mining, and infrastructure development. More research is needed for effective conservation of the species (Alexander et al, 2016; Li et al, 2016). To address this we provide data from camera traps at four areas across the Tianshan Mountains, including some areas not previously systematically surveyed.…”