Snow leopard scat holds key to saving cat

ON THE rocky cliffs of the Himalayas, the path to snow leopard conservation is paved in faeces.

Theirpopulationdecimatedbypoaching and habitat destruction, only about4,000oftheendangeredcatsremain in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Conflicts with mountain farmers and pastoral herders contribute to their dwindling numbers.

The researchers spent more than 150daysinthecentralhimalayassniffing out snow leopard scat. Embedded in the excrement were clues to decoding the cat’s diet and determining how often it ate livestock, which could one day guide conservation strategies to reduce contact between snow leopards and farm animals.

The team also scooped up wolf droppings. Himalayan wolves are not nearly as threatened as their feline counterparts, but they are also an elusive mountain predator that meddles with livestock.

The researchers trekked along trails, mountain ridges, riverbeds and mountain passes collecting the predators’ waste. They performed DNA analyses to determine whether they belonged to a snow leopard, wolf or some other carnivore, as well as to figure out if it was left by a male or a female. They also examined the scat for traces of fur to determine what the predator had eaten.

By far the most popular animal that the spotted cats were dining on was the wild bharal. The researchers also found that livestock remains appeared in male droppings twice as often as in the specimens from females.

The researchers’next steps are to determine the economic impact that the killings of farm animals have on the pasture herders, and then to develop strategies that will help reduce interactions between humans and the cats.

THE NEW YORK TIMES