Research On Snow Leopard(Panthera Uncia) Niche And Population Assessment In Taxkorgan, Xinjiang, China

The endangered snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is the least researched large felid of the world and is mainly distributed across central Asia. The Taxkorgan area, located in the eastern Pamir plateau in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, acts as the confluence of several main mountains in central Asia, and is critical for the conservation of snow leopard and other highland species. From February to March in2009and March to April in2011, we conducted surveys on snow leopard, other carnivores, and their important food resources, wild ungulates in the Taxkorgan area. The main methods of data analysis and results are as follows:(1) Densities of blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) and ibex (Capra sibirica) were estimated using distance sampling through both vehicle and foot transects. Densities of those two ungulate species have declined compared with that recorded in the1980s. However, it still remains important for sustaining carnivores in the area.(2) Carnivore sign information was analyzed using occupancy modeling with the software PRESENCE3.0. The occupancy (φ) of snow leopard, wolf and lynx are near or equal to1. Although red fox has the lowest occupancy (φ=0.3116), the detection probability (p=0.5360) is highest. Pallas’s cat and lynx have low detection probabilities, which are0.0716and0.0855respectively.(3) Totally69carnivore scats were identified to species level and used in scats analysis and17food items were identified from those samples. Snow leopard and wolf mainly prey upon large prey, in spite of different ratios of wild and domestic ungulates. Red fox and Pallas’s cat take a higher proportion of small-sized prey. Vegetation was found in scats of all carnivore species.(4) The Pianka overlap indices between snow leopard, red fox, wolf and Pallas’s cat were high. This may be caused by the shortage of food resources in winter. The carnivore diet is consistent together with the types and proportion of livestock, and can be closely related to the grazing pattern of local communities.(5) Camera trapping was used to access snow leopard population in a survey area of42km2.There were3-6individuals within the area and snow leopard density was7.19to14.29individuals per100km2. The survey area may include part of the core area of one individual and also covers part of the overlap area of three snow leopards.(6) Photo mode of camera trapping can yield better quality data for individual identification than video mode. We provided training of setting camera trapping to local herdsmen and forestry staff and this has improved survey efficiency and increased the size of the survey area. Making local forestry staff acquire the correct survey skills and data collection and recording methods through trainings and practices, will largely benefit long-term surveying and monitoring of snow leopard population in the region.