Ghosts of the Himalaya

They are rare, they are elusive and they are so well camouflaged, they are difficult to see, even when they are right there. That is why snow leopards are called the ‘Ghosts of the Himalaya’. And because they are also regarded as being sacred, they are called ‘God’s Pets’. 

Nepal has tripled its tiger population in 12 years since 2010. There have been successive years with zero rhino poaching and the numbers have bounded back. But few know about the country’s success story with snow leopard conservation.

Preliminary data from an on-going census shows that Nepal ranks fourth among the 12 snow leopard range countries in central and South Asia. This is despite the country having just 2% of the total area where snow leopards can be found. 

Nepal also leads in snow leopard research. Less than 3% of the snow leopard range has been studied through camera traps and genetic studies, but it is Nepal that has done the most. Over 100 Years of Snow Leopard Research by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2021 showed that 74% of the snow leopard habitat in northern Nepal has been the subject of research into the species.

“We are leading globally when it comes to snow leopard conservation and study, starting from 2013 in Kanchenjunga using GPS to study their habitat,” says Ghana S Gurung of WWF Nepal. “We also found via camera traps they went as high as 5,800m and as low as 2,600m.”

There are an estimated 300-500 snow leopards across high mountain Nepal with Dolpo, Manang and Kangchenjunga the main hotpots for the endangered species. Unlike with tigers and rhinos which are poached by wildlife traffickers, snow leopard killings are mostly retaliatory for killing livestock.

Snow leopards attack yaks, sheep and goats of herding communities in the mountains. One of the most effective methods to protect the species from traps and poisoning is to help local communities build mesh wire corrals. The San Francisco-based Snow Leopard Conservancy through the Nepal group Mountain Spirit has designed and tested portable corrals that can move with herders. 

“They move all year around so that the livestock have enough pasture to graze on, which is why it was important that our improved corrals could be dismantled and moved around,” explains Shailendra Thakali of the Snow Leopard Conservancy.

The team consulted herders in Manang and Mustang while developing the corrals based on traditional design, with a stone base but wire mesh on the sides and the roof as well as strong wire gates for secure closure. They are also using fox lights to deter activities at night.

Tourism and agriculture in Manang and Mustang dropped during the pandemic, and the Conservancy also helped herder communities with alternative livelihoods. 

“We trained them in basic hotel business such as lodge management skills but more importantly to restore abandoned pastures by planting jimbu which is highly valued for cooking in Kathmandu and Pokhara,” says Brian Peniston, also with the Snow Leopard Conservancy. “The tourist figures have now increased considerably and this has directly benefited 1,000 households in three municipalities.”

WWF Nepal has also collaborated with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DPNWC) to train locals in Dolpo and Kangchenjunga to make their own mesh wire corrals with subsidies on raw materials. 

WWF has partnered with Amchi traditional medicine practitioners to promote conservation of snow leopard in mountain communities where people trust faith healers. School eco-clubs also involve youth in conservation. 

“We must trust communities and promote local ownership when it comes to wildlife conservation, and if it were not for the communities there, snow leopards would be long gone,” says Gurung of WWF Nepal. “It is important to revive the belief that snow leopards are sacred because they are god’s pets, tie them up with the spiritual, cultural and traditional belief of the people.”

Community-managed livestock insurance schemes have attained zero retaliatory killings in Kangchenjunga where WWF and the government has sent up an endowment worth Rs10 million to compensate herders for snow leopard kills. A similar scheme is being implemented in Dolpo which has double the density of snow leopards compared to Kanchenjunga. 

But the compensation mechanism is cumbersome and often inefficient. Claimants need to provide photographic evidence with tags of the livestock still attached but snow leopards often go for the head and tags are lost. The evidence has to be submitted promptly, and this is difficult for herders in isolated villages. 

Insurance agents are based in headquarters like Chame in Manang and are not willing to travel all the way up. Similarly, photographic evidence needs to be assessed by veterinarians who are also reluctant to go to remote areas that take up days.

“The compensation policy hasn’t changed in the last 20 years,” says Tashi R Ghale, high-altitude wildlife photographer and conservationist. “Here in Manang, herders would get Rs6,000 in compensation for a yak when the market rate was Rs20,000. The market rate is now Rs150,000 but they still get only Rs6,000. Even then, they have to wait for months.”

Brian Peniston feels improving and tailoring compensation suitable to the landscape is of utmost priority, and the schemes need to be more accessible and effective as well as herder friendly. He adds, “Local governments should be handed authority in these matters, and it should be equal parts trust and verify. It is over-verification at the moment.”

Climate breakdown has added to the challenge of snow leopard conservation. Either blizzards or winter droughts mean fewer prey for the mountain cats, this in turn has also led to leopards preying on livestock. Usually, the wild prey to livestock ratio in a snow leopard diet is 70:30.

Blue sheep (pictured below) are the main prey species for snow leopards, but there is now competition with lowland spotted leopards which have moved up the mountains, while the Himalayan wolf has descended. The prey density may not have decreased, but predator species have more than doubled.

Other disrupters include overharvesting of yarsagumba and increased movement in this fragile landscape, with adverse impacts on all wildlife, not just snow leopards. Expansion of the road network to the remotest corners of the country is another concern, adding to the risk of human-wildlife conflict and poaching. 

“There has been much research on snow leopard behaviour in the last 30 years but what we haven’t done nearly enough is study human behaviour,” says Peniston.

Despite the challenges, the rebound of snow leopard populations has increased the opportunity to snow leopard viewing eco-tourism, as is being practiced in Dolpo. 

Says Tashi R Ghale: “Local communities here in Manang and Dolpo are doing what they can, but the Nepal Tourism Board needs to step in to promote snow leopard trekking and tourism. The co-benefits would motivate communities to protect the big cats.”