The timing was perfect. I had just arrived in the city of Leh, in Ladakh, India. As I watched the sun set behind the mountains at approximately 3,500 metres, I received a call from a former colleague. A snow leopard had been spotted killing a cow just outside the city.
My first instinct was to rush to see it, but snow leopards typically stay at a kill site for three to four days, so we decided to wait until sunrise.
At dawn, we headed to the site, and I was astonished to see the snow leopard from the road, blending into the golden coloured rocks. We scrambled up the side of the valley to get a better view – and watched in awe.
The snow leopard sat in the shade of the rocks, resting and watching the occasional car pass by. His face was partially covered in blood, and I could see the cow lying in front of him.
He barely moved over the course of the next two hours, and neither did I, only shifting his position with the sun, preferring to sit in the shade.
As I quietly observed the snow leopard, I thought about the local farmer whose livestock had been killed.
In the Himalayas, survival is a daily battle. Food and water resources are scarce, and agriculture is limited to just four months. In these cold desert regions, people depend heavily on raising cattle for their livelihood.
We’ve found communities will tolerate livestock losses when only one or two animals are killed, but when a predator like a snow leopard kills multiple livestock, this can lead to retaliatory killings.
I was visiting India as part of a project funded by the UK Government through the Darwin Initiative. Led by WWF in partnership with Centre for Pastoralism (CfP) - the project aims to address the issues of human-wildlife conflict and the low-income of the Changpa people in Ladakh’s Changthang landscape.
Pressures including a rising demand for products like pashmina wool, have led to larger herds, intensified conflicts, habitat degradation, and decreasing tolerance to predators killing livestock.
The project aims to address these issues by supporting a community-led approach. This includes measures to improve human-wildlife coexistence and enhancing income for women from sustainable products.
To date, we’ve helped construct three predator proof pens, called corrals, in the villages of Hanley, Tsage and Radhar, protecting approximately 1,800 sheep and goats.
Co-designed with community members, the corrals are built using a six-foot high wire-mesh installed over a six-foot high stone wall to prevent snow leopards and wolves finding their way in.
We’re also testing foxlights for deterring predators, deploying 59 devices in three high-conflict areas. These solar-powered lights flicker with three different colours at random time intervals, with the intention of mimicking a person carrying a torch to confuse wildlife.
Over time, we’ll monitor the effectiveness of these measures in reducing predator attacks on livestock and improving herder attitudes to snow leopards.
While I never met the herder who lost his cow, I reflected on the delicate balance between conserving these magnificent animals and supporting the livelihoods of local communities.
Main image: the snow leopard with evidence of a recent meal on its neck fur/Nicola Loweth, WWF-UK
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