Three snow leopards spotted in HP’s Spiti
Three snow leopards were spotted in Kibber valley of Himachal Pradesh recently, the forest department said on Sunday.
“Recently, we spotted a snow leopard family near Kibber valley,” said a forest official. Tourists especially come here to see these leopards, he added.
Some pictures of these leopards sitting in a group have also been procured by the department, he added. These frequent sightings of the species ajlso suggest that its population is increasing in the state.
Snow leopard is the state animal of HP, and the forest department has been putting efforts to conserve them in the hill state.
The state government, under one of its project, has increased the pre-base so that snow leopards could survive even in tough conditions.
Chief conservator of forest (wildlife wing) Dr Sushil Kapta said the project was focused on conserving the population of snow leopards in the state. “We focussed on increasing the prebase so that they get food to survive,” he said.
Under this project, initial focus was laid on increasing the population of wild ibex and blue sheep, the main food of snow leopards. Since they have been getting food easily, their population is thriving, said Kapta.
“Snow leopards are usually sighted in Spiti valley and often spotted in isolation. Most of the time, they are spotted near Komic, Hikkim, Kibbar, and Demul areas of the tribal district of Himachal Pradesh. This is very rare that Snow leopards are spotted in a group,” he added.
BOOST TO TOURISM
Snow leopards are a big attraction for tourists in Spiti valley.
The state wildlife wing and the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore (NCF) have been leading some initiatives of both research and conservation in Spiti, the snow leopard range. The state and NCF have also prepared a detailed landscape based and participatory management plan for Spiti wildlife division.
The project also focusses on the habitat of snow leopards. “The important questions of snow leopard conservation relate to good estimate of its population, area needed for each animal (as per its age-sex), determinants of range, quality in terms of prey availability, topography and disturbance and their ability to move across human and natural barriers,” Kapta added.