Snow leopard predation in a livestock dominated landscape in Mongolia

Johansson, Örjan; McCarthy, Tom; Samelius, Gustaf; Andrén, Henrik; Tumursukh, Lkhagvasumberel; Mishra, Charudutt

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.02.003

Cited by 104 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…) may result from two factors: (1) Sexual dimorphism is higher in the puma (on average, males are 1.4 times the weight of females in puma, vs. 1.2 in snow leopard; Logan and Sweanor , Johansson et al. ), meaning that female pumas may be less able to defend their offspring from immigrant males compared to snow leopards; and (2) puma males are hunted for sport harvest and population control (Cooley et al. ), while snow leopards are strictly protected (Jackson et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their main wild prey consists of Siberian ibex ( Capra sibirica ) and Argali sheep ( Ovis ammon ), which do not show seasonal variation in their distribution (Johansson et al. ). Based on the five known births in our study area and traditional knowledge, mating appears to occur between mid‐January and mid‐March (Ö. Johansson, unpublished data ), and we assume the mating season to be largely restricted to these months.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sex‐specific seasonal variation in puma and snow leopard home range utilization

et al. 2018

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Territory size is often larger for males than for females in species without biparental care. For large solitary carnivores, this is explained by males encompassing a set of female territories to monopolize their reproduction during mating (area maximization). However, males are expected to behave more like females outside of breeding, with their area utilization being dependent on the range required to secure food resources (area minimization). To examine how male and female solitary carnivores adjust their spatial organization during the year as key resources (mates and prey) change, we radio-collared 17 pumas (Puma concolor; nine males and eight females) and 14 snow leopards (Panthera uncia; seven males and seven females) and estimated home range size and overlap on two temporal scales (annual vs. monthly). Contrary to expectation, we found no evidence that males monopolized females (the mean territory overlap between females and the focal male during the mating season was 0.28 and 0.64 in pumas and snow leopards, respectively). Although male-male overlap of annual home ranges was comparatively high (snow leopards [0.21] vs. pumas [0.11]), monthly home range overlaps were small (snow leopards [0.02] vs. pumas [0.08]) suggesting strong territoriality. In pumas, both males and females reduced their monthly home ranges in winter, and at the same time, prey distribution was clumped and mating activity increased. In snow leopards, females showed little variation in seasonal home range size, following the seasonal stability in their primary prey. However, male snow leopards reduced their monthly home range utilization in the mating season. In line with other studies, our results suggest that female seasonal home range variation is largely explained by changes in food resource distribution. However, contrary to expectations, male territories did not generally encompass those of females, and males reduced their home ranges during mating. Our results show that male and female territorial boundaries tend to intersect in these species, and hint at the operation of female choice and male mate guarding within these mating systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex‐specific seasonal variation in puma and snow leopard home range utilization

et al. 2018

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“…Dietary studies can provide useful information regarding such dynamics, including the possible rise in dependency of snow leopards on livestock. Research efforts also need to extend beyond simple questions of diet to explore a range of other issues (Jumabay-Uulu et al 2013;Johansson et al 2015), including: seasonal variation and secular trends in prey selection; age class of preferred prey; and the role of wild prey and livestock abundance, and related management practices.…”

Section: Wild Preymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The exceptionally high and remote nature of its habitat combined with its ability to merge into the landscape and low population density have continued to challenge researchers. There is, nevertheless, a growing body of knowledge about the snow leopard, including its basic ecology, conflicts with humans and local community attitudes towards the species (Fox et al 1991;Ale et al 2014;Sharma et al 2014;Johansson et al 2015). Since the early of work of Schaller, Jackson and others (Schaller et al 1988a,b;Jackson 1996), international attention to and support for the snow leopard and its conservation needs have grown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A spotlight on snow leopard conservation in China

Alexander

Zhang

Shi

et al. 2016

Integrative Zoology

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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.

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“…The Tost Mountains cover an area of approximately 1700 km 2 and the population of snow leopards, estimated annually, was between 10-14 adults during our study [24]. [26].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 87%

Health and zoonotic Infections of snow leopardsPanthera unicain the South Gobi desert of Mongolia

Esson

Skerratt

Berger

et al. 2019

Infection Ecology & Epidemiology

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Background : Snow leopards, Panthera uncia , are a threatened apex predator, scattered across the mountains of Central and South Asia. Disease threats to wild snow leopards have not been investigated. Methods and Results : Between 2008 and 2015, twenty snow leopards in the South Gobi desert of Mongolia were captured and immobilised for health screening and radio-collaring. Blood samples and external parasites were collected for pathogen analyses using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), microscopic agglutination test (MAT), and next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. The animals showed no clinical signs of disease, however, serum antibodies to significant zoonotic pathogens were detected. These pathogens included, Coxiella burnetii , (25% prevalence), Leptospira spp., (20%), and Toxoplasma gondii (20%). Ticks collected from snow leopards contained potentially zoonotic bacteria from the genera Bacillus, Bacteroides, Campylobacter, Coxiella, Rickettsia, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus . Conclusions : The zoonotic pathogens identified in this study, in the short-term did not appear to cause illness in the snow leopards, but have caused illness in other wild felids. Therefore, surveillance for pathogens should be implemented to monitor for potential longer- term disease impacts on this snow leopard population.

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Snow leopard predation in a livestock dominated landscape in Mongolia

Cited by 104 publications

References 28 publications

Sex‐specific seasonal variation in puma and snow leopard home range utilization

Sex‐specific seasonal variation in puma and snow leopard home range utilization

A spotlight on snow leopard conservation in China

Health and zoonotic Infections of snow leopardsPanthera unicain the South Gobi desert of Mongolia

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