Curious snow leopard investigates a camera trap in India

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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