The conservation of the snow leopard (panthera uncia) and an action plan for the Indian Himalaya population

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits the high-altitude mountains of Central Asia, with 2,710 to 3,386 individuals remaining in the wild. Snow leopards were previously listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List, but 2017 saw the species demoted to vulnerable following a reassessment of the age of maturity used in population estimates. In addition to this change in status, there have been new discussions regarding the taxonomy, phylogeny and morphology of snow leopards. The aim of this thesis is to use the new data available to reassess snow leopard threats and to create the first action plan for the conservation of the Indian Himalayan population using principles from The Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. The range of threats snow leopards face across the 12 countries they inhabit have been divided into direct, indirect, intrinsic and emerging. The conservation work being done to mitigate these threats has been examined and successes have been identified in livestock husbandry, insurance schemes and education programmes. The action plan to conserve snow leopards in the Indian Himalayas has been created using Miradi. A conceptual model with seven results chains has been produced in order to tackle the highest rated threats within the Indian Himalayan range. The highest rated threats in this region were found to be retribution killing and prey base depletion. The seven strategies to mitigate these threats are: improving wildlife laws, controlling feral dogs, creating and expanding Protected Areas, introducing wildlife-friendly practices, creating awareness of the value of snow leopards, creating a livestock insurance scheme and developing ecotourism. Monitoring schemes include principles of adaptive management which are especially significant in this first iteration of a Miradi based action plan for the Indian Himalaya population