Research explains human, snow leopard coexistence

Researchers have identified a key factor that facilitates the coexistence of humans and large predators in the wild, based on a study of snow leopards living in the Sanjiangyuan area of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China.

The findings were presented in an article titled "Spatial separation of prey from livestock facilitates coexistence of a specialized large carnivore with human land use", published in the journal Animal Conservation in late March.

The Chinese and international team of scientists studied snow leopards to understand how a large carnivore and its primary prey－in this case sheep-like bharal－could coexist with human land-use activities taking place in a large proportion of its range. The study focused on snow leopards in the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers in Northwest China's Qinghai province.

Using a combination of livestock censuses, camera trapping and wildlife surveys across a broad gradient of livestock grazing intensity in a 363,000-square-kilometer landscape on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the scientists found no evidence of livestock grazing having an impact on snow leopard habitat use, bharal density and spatial distribution, even though livestock density was 13 times higher than bharal density, according to an abstract from the paper.

The key to coexistence between species is the existence of "niche "habitats with different characteristics, allowing predators to hunt their prey without impacting livestock and human activities.

"The cliffs and the vicinity of rugged rocks are important habitats for snow leopards and bharal, but these areas with lower grass forage conditions are not preferred by livestock, which protects the two species' health," said Xiao Lingyun, one of the authors of the paper and an associate professor at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

Wildlife protection in Sanjiangyuan has been increasingly prioritized in recent years, and the Sanjiangyuan National Park was officially designated in October 2021. At an average altitude of more than 4,700 meters, it is the world's highest national park covering a total area of 190,700 sq km.