Prey loss is another big threat that snow leopards face. Snow leopards occur in environments with relatively low productivity, leading to naturally low amounts of prey. Thus, they are particularly vulnerable to declines in prey. The snow leopard's range is primarily located in central Asia, where wild ungulates are declining due to competition with domestic livestock (Wolf & Ripple, 2016). Illegal or unsustainable hunting is also a threat to snow leopards and their prey (SLT The Threats, 2020). Once prey populations decline, the predators population begins to decline.
With low prey abundance and increasing livestock entering snow leopard habitat, occasionally snow leopards will prey on livestock (SLT The Threats, 2020). This often leads to human-snow leopard conflict because herders rely on their livestock for income so when they lose an animal to predation it hurts them financially (GSLEPP Retaliation, 2019; SLT The Threats, 2020). When over 40% of people in the majority of snow leopard territory live below the national poverty levels this creates more of an issue and often results in retaliation killings (GSLEPP Retaliation, 2019; SLT The Threats, 2020). Several families who are herders are living off of $2 per day, depending on the livestock they have for food and income (SLT Conservation Programs, 2020).
The Snow Leopard Trust realizes livestock loss from snow leopards creates conflicts so they created incentives for herders to protect their local wildlife and in turn their ecosystems (SLT Conservation Programs, 2020). They offer livestock insurance where a herder can get insurance on their livestock animals and if a snow leopard kills an animal the herder submits a claim and gets reimbursed for the loss animal (SLT Conservation Programs, 2020). They also have a livestock vaccination program to help keep their livestock healthy so snow leopards do not have sick livestock to prey off if (SLT Conservation Programs, 2020). The Snow Leopard Trust is also working on predation prevention to create careful herding practices and building predator-proof corrals (SLT Conservation Programs, 2020).
You can help snow leopards by supporting the local community in snow leopard territory and supporting organizations that help the community, like the Snow Leopard Trust.
Literature Cited
Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program. (2019). Retaliation or protective killings. https://globalsnowleopard.org/the-snow-leopard/threats/retaliation-killings/
Hoffman, H. (2015, August 4). In the middle of lunch [Photograph]. Flickr.
Snow Leopard Trust. (2020). Conservation programs.
Snow Leopard Trust. (2020). The threats: The snow leopard is under threat.
Wolf, C. & Ripple, W.J. (2016, August 3). Prey depletion as a threat to the world’s large
carnivores. Royal Society Open Science, 8. 10.1098/rsos.160252
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