Shan in the backyard (Shan means-Snow Leopard)

Photo- Karma Sonam

A sudden encounter with a solitary snow leopard turns in to a conservation opportunity

One morning in spring last year
2014, our team set out to visit Kyungyam, (a tiny hamlet in Eastern Ladakh) with the purpose of interacting with the community about potential wildlife conservation initiatives. We had been working in the adjacent villages on a series of activities (e.g. education and awareness) and decided to expand our reach. We reached Kyungyam at about mid-day and realized that most of the villagers were busy in their fields, and were unable to gather for a discussion. Weary of travel, we decided to get some rest hoping to speak with them later in the day. The village representatives kindly offered to put us up at the rest house nearby where the old caretaker, Tashi Namgail, chatted with us for over an hour, narrating stories about the snow leopard. He mentioned that since about a week or so, the cat had been prowling in the village and had killed nearly 12 livestock, mostly adult cows and calves, of which one had been killed the previous evening.  Like all large cats, the snow leopards have a habit of staying close to the kill till they finish eating it. We figured that the cat must be around. We thanked the caretaker for his generosity and proceeded towards the kill site.   

Our hearts were beating with expectation. Would we see this cat? Would we see the remains of the kill? What if the cat was too well-camouflaged to be spotted? We argued about the possibilities. Just then we happened to pass by a student who, in his shy voice, pointed towards a stream and whispered ‘Shan eney dukle’ (Snow leopard is here). He explained that the snow leopard had just killed a cow. Excited and nervous, we moved closer to the direction in which he was pointing, and there it was – leaping from boulder to boulder! We let out a cry of surprise and I hastily fastened my spotting scope to the tripod so that our team could get a better view.

We soon realized that we had been a little late to catch the action. A couple of minutes before our arrival, the owner of the cow (killed by the snow leopard) had turned up at the kill site and pushed the feline away from its meal. The cat had reluctantly moved away but had not fled. It had decided to take shelter behind the Loniserra bushes about 10-15m away, and wait patiently until the situation was conducive enough to try again. The villagers kept shouting loudly to deter the determined cat. Initially, we were surprised and worried to see the villagers and the snow leopard on loggerheads with each other. We even considered the option of requesting them to leave the carcass and the cat alone. But who were we to intervene? Who were we to tell the one who had lost his possession to leave it behind for the snow leopard to feast on? Who were we to tell the villagers who had lost over 12 livestock that the snow leopard needs to be conserved? We decided to let the situation unfold.

The cat kept glancing at the kill in anticipation. It had only eaten about 40 percent of the cow’s thigh before it was shooed away. We theorized that since the kill was amid the thick bushes of Caragana and Loniserra, the cat had probably crawled behind the vegetation to stalk its prey, and then rushed to capture and strangulate it at an opportune moment. The drama went on for about an hour and a half where, staying true to its idiosyncrasies, the cat would occasionally lift its head, roll its tongue out, rest its chin between its paws, or just stay motionless and calm as a rock. The crowd of spectators kept growing and eventually, a group of young boys moved closer to the animal to get a better view. Realising that humans were too close for comfort, the cat fled in an instant and vanished into the smoky mountains, resulting in the dispersal of its audience.

In the evening, we organized a meeting with the community to understand the challenges that they experienced in the context of living with wildlife. We were cautious about suggesting any solutions that would be perceived to be ‘pro wildlife, considering what we had experienced that morning. We were half expecting the members to lash out at us citing the losses and troubles they had been living with. To our surprise, almost no one had a negative comment to make about the snow leopards. Most women said that shan (snow leopard) was like their house-mate who lived peacefully alongside people. They also added that livestock losses were not significant but occasional. What was a special and rare sighting for us had been a usual occurrence for them! We were amazed at their attitude – it was indeed an epiphany!

However, one couldn’t deny the livestock loss, nor could one idealize their situation as being one of absolute harmony. It was important for us to not take their tolerance for granted. Our recent experience than provided us an opportunity to suggest a potential win-win solution where the needs of the predator as well as the villagers could be taken into consideration. We spoke about the livestock insurance program initiated by the Nature Conservation Foundation-Snow Leopard Trust (NCF-SLT) in parts of Ladakh and Spiti valley (Himachal Pradesh).

Livestock insurance program has helped offset the economic impacts of livestock predation by providing compensation for losses. The village creates a pool of money in the form of monthly premiums (ranging from Rs. 15-40 per animal, depending on the species) in order to reimburse families who have lost their livestock to snow leopards. NCF-SLT also adds a share to this corpus until the program becomes self-sustaining. The premium and compensation amount is decided collaboratively. The village thus enters into an agreement with NCF-SLT under a set of conditions that will benefit people as well as the predator. An important condition to be met in order to receive compensation is that people should refrain from harming the snow leopard or shoo it away from the carcass or remove the carcass. The likelihood of another livestock being predated upon is greater if the snow leopard is prevented from eating what it has already killed. Livestock protection and corral improvement are also a part of this agreement. Overall, the general rules of the insurance program are flexible, and every insurance member (including the youth) may be involved in the process of formulating and modifying them.

The community was willing to give the insurance program a try, and decided to participate in the necessary procedures. They eventually christened this scheme as “Kyungyam Pashu Bima Yojana”. We hope that the insurance scheme provides them with an additional buffer to mitigate losses so that the village can continue to co-exist peacefully alongside its feline neighbor.