Posted on 18 December
2013 - Kathmandu, Nepal – Nepal created
new strides in snow leopard conservation
with the historic collaring of a snow leopard
using satellite GPS technology in Kangchenjunga
Conservation Area in the Sacred Himalayan
Landscape.
The snow leopard, an adult male approximately
five years of age, weighing 40kg and with
a body length of 193cm was captured, fitted
with a GPS Plus Globalstar collar (Vectronics
Aerospace Inc., Germany) and released back
into the wild at 10:45am on 25th November
2013.
The collaring expedition that lasted 45
days beginning 7th November was led by the
Government of Nepal’s Department of National
Parks and Wildlife Conservation with the
support of WWF, Conservation and Adaptation
in Asia’s High Mountain Landscapes and Communities
Project funded by USAID, National Trust
for Nature Conservation, and Kangchenjunga
Conservation Area Management Council/Snow
Leopard Conservation Committee-Ghunsa. WWF
Nepal provided both financial and technical
support for the collaring expedition.
“The snow leopard collaring
is indeed a new win for Nepal,” stated Mr.
Megh Bahadur Pandey, Director General of
the Department of National Parks and Wildlife
Conservation. “It reiterates the commitment
of the government to strengthen measures
to better understand and protect the snow
leopard whose survival is under threat from
anthropogenic actions and the pervasive
impacts of global climate change.”
This is the first time that satellite-GPS
technology is being used in snow leopard
collaring in Nepal. Prior collaring work
on the species used VHF technology in the
early 80s and 90s. The collaring expedition
also marks the first time that local communities
through citizen scientists and Snow Leopard
Conservation Committees have been involved
and who played a key role in identifying
snow leopard hotspots for tracking purposes
through ongoing camera trap monitoring operations,
participating in the collaring operations,
and managing local logistics.
“Snow leopards are highly elusive creatures
and given the terrains they reside in, monitoring
work on the species is a highly challenging
task,” stated Dr. Narendra Man Babu Pradhan,
Coordinator for Development, Research and
Monitoring at WWF Nepal. “While past studies
on the snow leopard have been limited to
areas that are accessible to people, this
technology will help provide important information
on the ecology and behavior of the wide
ranging snow leopard.”
Through data received from the satellite
collar, it will be possible to determine
their movement patterns, habitat use and
preferences, home ranges to identify critical
core habitats and corridors between them,
including trans-boundary habitat linkages
and climate resilient habitats.
“Nepal’s Himalayas are a rich mosaic of
pristine habitat, freshwater and wildlife
species including the iconic snow leopard,”
stated Mr. Anil Manandhar, Country Representative
of WWF Nepal. “The success of the collaring
expedition opens up new frontiers in snow
leopard conservation as well as new avenues
to profile Nepal as a living laboratory
to help build on international collaboration
in conservation science.”
The existing snow leopard conservation projects
in Kangchenjunga Conservation Area include
snow leopard monitoring using camera traps
and prey-base monitoring with the partnership
of local citizen scientists and Snow Leopard
Conservation Committees, a population genetic
study using fecal DNA, and a livestock insurance
scheme built at reducing human-snow leopard
conflict.
“The snow leopard conservation program has
given the local communities the opportunity
to build their own capacities in snow leopard
monitoring,” stated Mr. Himali Chungda Sherpa,
Chairperson of the Snow Leopard Conservation
Committee-Ghunsa. “This is further aiding
the overall understanding amongst the local
communities on the importance of protecting
the species thereby building on our commitment
towards snow leopard conservation.”
