Snow Leopard: international cooperation underway to protect endangered Asian cat

Even though my primary interests are with the seas and their future, from time to time I turn back towards land and some of the apex predators, like tigers and wolves, that have been threatened by the encroachment of civilization.

Tigers are particularly beautiful animals that are seriously endangered with numbers ranging in only a few thousand throughout India and southern China. However, there is another cat that lives in the harsh terrain of China, Mongolia and India that is equally as striking as the tiger and, unfortunately, also threatened with extinction: the snow leopard.

The snow leopard is a relative newcomer to the conservation scene, having only been first photographed in the wild in the 1970s, with concerted efforts to protect this animal starting a decade later. The target of poachers who value its fur on the black market, the snow leopard's population has been estimated to be as low as 3,500.

However, casting a ray of hope on the future of this feline predator, an international joint effort is getting underway to protect the snow leopard, bringing together several conservation organizations from the United Kingdom and Asia. Involved in this effort is UK's Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), and the BBC Wildlife Fund (the BBC brought the snow leopard to the attention of television viewers with rare footage shot for the Planet Earth series). Also involved are the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), the Snow Leopard Conservation Fund in Mongolia, and members of China's Peking University. It is hoped that through this concerted, cooperative strategy, progress can be achieved in environmental education, community‐based wildlife monitoring, anti‐poaching programs, and cross‐collaboration between regional and national government offices.

According to a recent press release, Dr. Charudutt Mishra, Trustee of NCF and Science and Conservation Director of the SLT, said “This is the first large, multi‐country project of its kind for snow leopards and it’s a huge leap forward for the species.”

Believing that global efforts like these to protect a keystone species can set the stage for international cooperation to protect other endangered species, Georgina Domberger, Director of WFN, said “It’s great to say you’re going to protect an endangered species—but what does that mean? We can’t save all of them at once, but we are coming up with a way to protect some of the most important population centers we can, and then we hope to build outwards from there. We all love snow leopards for their beauty and charisma, and since they are at the top of the wildlife pyramid, we know helping them will help the entire ecosystem.”

Let's hope that through global cooperation, Ms. Domberger's assessment that we can't save all of the endangered species at once will only be a passing reality. Threatened and endangered species are a reflection of our fate as well. Perhaps we can't stop the theorized Sixth Great Extinction that is taking place because of the impact of humankind, but I would like to think that we could certainly slow it down a notch or two. I'm sure the snow leopard would appreciate it.

India's Whale Sharks: a migrating population may be unique to India

For many years, marine scientists have studied the migration patterns of marine animals, trying to better understand the animal's behavior by unlocking the secrets as to why these long-range movement patterns exist. Spawning grounds, food opportunities, seasonal temperature changes - all have entered into the mix, depending on the species or the location.

In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean Ocean, there was a long held belief that a population of whale sharks migrated from Australia to waters off India's Gujarat coast. In the winter months, whale sharks would disappear from Australian waters and reappear in Gujarat, about 300 to 500 strong. The theory was that the sharks were migrating to warmer waters.

But a new study by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), wherein genetic samples from Australian and Indian whale sharks, along with identifying photographs, were taken and compared, it appears that the two regions may, in fact harbor two distinct populations. According to Arun Kaul, WTI senior director, there were no corresponding DNA indicators between any of the samples taken.

“The samples collected so far have not found a match anywhere in the world, which means they are unique,” Kaul said.

Whale sharks, like many other sharks, can also be photographically identified because their white-spotted markings - along with any other distinctive scars or deformities - act like a fingerprint. The WTI study did not find photographs that showed a whale shark in both Australian and Indian locales.

WTI pointed out that this was a preliminary study and that more work needed to be done to further identify migration routes for these sharks (after all, the Australian whale sharks were going somewhere during the winter months; just, apparently not to India) and to determine whether any cross-breeding is taking place.

I recall when I first became interested in the white sharks at Isla Guadalupe and learned of the "White Shark Cafe" where it appeared that both sharks populations from Isla Guadalupe and the Farallon Islands were both migrating to. It was a tantalizing thought that these two distinct populations were meeting in the mid-Pacific to cross-breed and maintain a healthy gene pool. However, to date, all DNA samples taken have not yet shown any connection between the two groups. It's also not completely clear as to whether all of the sharks migrate or whether there are some who, for whatever reason, stay back. Some divers, who dive Guadalupe in the summer months before the usual return fall migration of the white sharks, have reported seeing a shark or two at the edge of visibility, hanging out in deep water.

Could this be happening in Gujarat? The seabeds in Gujarat are rich in plankton - a primary whale shark food source - and sea grass which feeds many small fish that end up as whale shark prey. But the whale sharks don't stay all year round, so if not Australia, then where are they going?

A coalition of research groups including WTI, Wildlife Institute of India, Space Applications Centre, National Institute of Oceanography, Australian Institute of Marine Science, University of Illinois and others is being formed to carry on a more intensive study. The prospect of a unique population of whale sharks at Gujaret is not only of scientific interest, it is also a source of national pride. In 2000, as many as 500 whale sharks were landed off Gujaret, but in 2001 whale shark hunting was banned and hunters became protectors, viewing the whale sharks as a valuable natural resource. Fishermen free whale sharks caught in their nets and discussion are underway regarding the economics of ecotourism, as several agencies step up an awareness campaign.

“Perhaps we have discovered a population that could be endemic to Indian territorial waters,” said Satish Trivedi, senior official, community development, Tata Chemicals, Ltd (who funds a "Save the Whale Shark" campaign in India), commenting that such a discovery is significant for India.

Read about Gujarat whale sharks in LiveMint.com.

Biodiversity Yin-Yang: sobering UN report and more tigers in India

Yin-Yang news about biodiversity: the United Nation's Convention on Biological Diversity recently released its third Global Biodiveristy Outlook report and the results were not good. Eight years ago, targets were set to improve both plant and animal biodiversity and not only were those targets not met, but the report determined that the rate of extinction of plant and animal life is happening 1000 times faster than expected.

The report examines global biodiversity which includes ecosystems such as coral reefs, tropical rainforests, and other ecosystems in addition to specific threatened plant and animal life.

But on a more positive note and speaking of threatened animal life, a recent field study of tigers in the Kaziranga National park in northeast India revealed the largest concentration of these highly endangered cats. Using camera traps, the study, conducted in the first quarter of 2009, photographed tigers at a rate of 32 per 100 sq. km - that's compared to the rate of 3-12 tigers found throughout India's reserve parks and nearly twice that of the previous record of 19.6 tigers found in another reserve.

The success of the tiger population in this one reserve is being attributed to the reserve's grassland features and available food sources like deer and wild boar. Hopefully, the reserve's ability to resist poaching is also playing a role. Unfortunately, tigers are illegally hunted for their hides and, in particular, for their genitals - a homeopathic freeze-dried aphrodisiac that commands a high price in many Asian countries.

Read about the biodiversity report in the Guardian.co.uk.
Read about the tiger study (with pictures) in the BBC Earth News.