Landscape use and co-occurrence pattern of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and its prey species in the fragile ecosystem of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the high mountain ecosystem by regulating prey populations and maintaining plant community structure. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the role of the snow leopard and its interaction with prey species. Further, elucidating landscape use and co-occurrence of snow leopard and its prey species can be used to assess the differential use of habitat, allowing them to coexist. We used camera trapping and sign survey to study the interactions of snow leopard and its prey species (Siberian Ibex- Capra sibrica and Blue sheep-Pseudois nayaur) in the Spiti valley Himachal Pradesh. Using the occupancy modelling, we examined whether these prey and predator species occur together more or less frequently than would be expected by chance. To understand this, we have used ten covariates considering the ecology of the studied species. Our results suggest habitat covariates, such as LULC16 (barren area), LULC10 (grassland), ASP (aspect), SLP (slope) and DW (distance to water), are important drivers of habitat use for the snow leopard as well as its prey species. Furthermore, we found that the snow leopard detection probability was high if the site was used by its prey species, i.e., ibex and blue sheep. Whereas, in the case of the prey species, the probability of detection was low when the predator (snow leopard) was present and detected. Besides this, our results suggested that both species were less likely to detect together than expected if they were independent (Snow leopard—Ibex, Delta = 0.29, and snow leopard—blue sheep, Delta = 0.28, both the values are <1, i.e., avoidance). Moreover, despite the predation pressure, the differential anti-predation habitat selection and restriction of temporal activities by the prey species when snow leopard is present allows them to co-exist. Therefore, considering the strong link between the habitat use by the snow leopard and its prey species, it is imperative to generate quantitative long-term data on predator-prey densities and the population dynamics of its prey species in the landscape.

Beyond Traditional Methods: Innovative Integration of LISS IV and Sentinel 2A Imagery for Unparalleled Insight into Himalayan Ibex Habitat Suitability

“…The Himalayan Ibex holds great importance as a crucial ecosystem modi er, as exempli ed by its function as a primary food source of the snow leopard, the apex predator in the Trans Himalayan region (Suryawanshi et al, 2017;Sharief et al, 2022).…”

Ecological and Public Advantages of a Dual Flagship Strategy: Giant Panda and Snow Leopard

“…Although it was reclassified from the category of "Endangered" to "Vulnerable" on the Red List of Threatened Species, the snow leopard still faces substantial conservation threats [1]. As a top predator, the snow leopard plays a vital role in maintaining the stability of the high mountain ecosystem [27]. In China, the snow leopard's habitat covers the headwaters of major rivers like the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Lancang River, making their conservation crucial not just for protecting wildlife but also for ensuring water sources downstream that serve billions of people [28].…”

Free‐ranging livestock affected the spatiotemporal behavior of the endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia)

“…Snow leopards depend on wild ungulates such as blue sheep ( Pseudois nayaur ), ibex ( Capra sibirica ), and argali ( Ovis ammon ), among others, as their main prey (Johansson et al, 2015 ; Shao et al, 2021 ; Suryawanshi et al, 2017 ). The abundance and distribution of these ungulates decide the population dynamics and spatial patterns of snow leopards (Filla, Lama, Filla, et al, 2022 , Filla, Lama, Ghale, et al, 2022 ; Sharief et al, 2022 ). Increasing grazing activities pressure wild ungulates (Karimov et al, 2018 ; Lu et al, 2021 ), potentially affecting the predation efficiency of large carnivores such as the snow leopard indirectly (Ghoshal et al, 2017 ; Yang et al, 2021 ).…”