Wildlife Conservation and Management: in search of Snow Leopard in Trans-Himalayas covering Uttar Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh)

In search of the elusive lord of the Mountains :The Snow Leopard in Trans-Himalayas covering Uttar Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir (Ladakh)

During my visit to Srinagar in 1985, I had seen pelts of snow leopard and other endangered species being sold in the market place. Jammu and Kashmir have a different wildlife protection Act, and the state did not follow the central Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 till the year 1986. There are several parallel provisions but with gaps. Local people, out of frustration kill snow leopards, in retaliation for the loss of their livestock. In a village of Markha Valley, one night I had seen a snow leopard creeping into a sheep’s pen and causing death of 27 sheep. Snow leopard actually would have killed only a few animals but others in the same pen died from panic, stampede and suffocation. This is a typical consequence, unfortunate as it is, when a predator enters a pen. The natural prey of snow leopard like wild sheep (blue sheep / Bharal), goats, have been reduced through excessive hunting by local people. This has consequences for livestock. Every year large number of Bakarwals along with their flocks of sheep climb up to the alpine grasslands in summer months; during this journey a number of wild sheep and goats are killed by the snow leopard. Another reason for the decline of the natural prey base is the severe competition for food as growing number of livestock have now exerted serious pressure on wild ungulates within their preferred grazing areas. If these trends continue—there does not appear to be any favorable change—it is doubtful that the snow leopard will survive across its natural range except in few isolated areas or some in captivity. While this is true of present times the situation was not too different in the distant past

Alarmed by these reports, in 1985-86 a Snow leopard Survey was launched jointly by some of the international conservation agencies and the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India to assess the status of the snow leopard and its prey. The survey was undertaken by some scientists of the Wildlife Institute of India drafted specifically for this purpose and the International Snow Leopard Trust, USA, WWF-International and US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Survey team included besides myself, a zoologist, Pallav Das, sociologist, Raghu Chundavat, botanist and Dr J.L.Fox, a representative of the International Snow Leopard Trust. The objectives of this survey included ascertaining the status of snow leopard and its prey base in Uttar Pradesh--now the Garhwal region of Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir especially the Ladakh region. The areas covered during the survey included all the representative snow leopard habitats throughout northwestern India. The survey sites were within the alpine, sub-alpine, and arid desert zones of Himalayan and trans-Himalayan mountains. They ranged from the high desert Zanskar mountains of central Ladakh, through somewhat moist alpine forests of the southern slopes of the Himalayas along the northern region of Uttar Pradesh and the Pir Panjal Range in Himachal Pradesh. The elevation of survey areas ranged from 2000m to 5000 m.

Nun kun peak and the Zanskar Vally marsh near Zuldok Village

Initial surveys from 9 November to 22 December, 1985 were conducted in the upper Suru / Zanskar Valleys, south of Kargil in Ladakh, J&K. Further surveys in this general location, and over Pensi La to Padam in Zanskar, were conducted from 26 June to 15 July, 1986. This included the areas from which the Rangdom Wildlife Reserve was later carved out. The Markha valley region, south of Leh, Ladakh, was surveyed in three stints - from 1-15 January, 1986; 23 February to 28 March, 1986 and during 4-8 July 1986. This region included areas which were later notified to constitute the Hemis National Park. The Shang Wildlife Sanctuary, northeast of and adjacent to Markha valley, was surveyed from 31 December, 1985 to 6 January, 1986, and again during 8-11 July, 1986. Areas to the south of Markha valley, which were under consideration for protected area status, were surveyed from 26 June to 4 July 1986. The Himalayan crest region in the vicinity of Shingo La was surveyed from 12-21 June 1986 as far as Jispa in Lahul, Himachal Pradesh and Padam in Zanskar, Jammu and Kashmir.