By
Earth Touch
October 13 2015
Be they domestic tabbies or wild
lions, curiosity almost always gets the cat. Take this inquisitive snow
leopard cub, who decided to investigate a camera trap in India's Hemis National Park.
The trap was set by the Snow Leopard Conservancy during filming for the PBS special Silent Roar. The
film celebrates over a decade of conservation work in the park, which
has seen these endangered animals bounce back in this part of their
native range.
Because of the leopards' elusive nature, counting them has proved
exceptionally tricky in the past, so camera traps like these have done
wonders to help us better understand their movements and hone in on
problem areas.
Not many humans share this extreme mountain environment with the
so-called "ghost cats," but even their small presence is enough to make a
big impact on leopard numbers. Livestock herding and poaching in the
area have led to ever-increasing human-wildlife conflict, even within
officially protected areas. Because livestock directly competes with
snow leopards' natural prey for sparse grasses, there is often less for
the big cats to eat in areas close to pens. In turn, the hungry leopards
will turn to domestic animals for a quick meal.
"The biggest problem is multiple losses," says conservancy director Dr Rodney Jackson.
"A leopard will enter a livestock pen at night — the pen keeps the
livestock in, but not the predator out — and its hunting instinct will
be triggered repeatedly. It can kill 30, 50 or 100 animals, and that is a
catastrophe for the livestock owner."
The team relies on community-based education and works with locals to
create a more harmonious existence with their feline neighbours. This
includes building leopard-safe pens for livestock and creating
eco-tourism programs that allow park visitors to accompany researchers
on leopard-tracking trips.
"Our job is to transform conflict into coexistence," says Jackson. "We
involve the communities right from the beginning – from women and
children to elders."
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