Sixteen sheep and three goats were killed near the Temperate Horticulture Development Centre in Marpha, Gharpajhong-2, following a snow leopard attack. There were a total of 45 sheep and goats in Santosh Pariyar’s shed inside the village of Marpha.
While the incidents of human-animal conflict have become quite common in the plains of Nepal in the form of conflict between humans on one side and elephants and monkeys on the other, the Himalayan region is seeing a new kind of conflict emerging. According to the Nepal Trust for Nature Conservation, the rising temperature in the Himalayas is causing the treeline and snowline to shift upward, resulting in the loss of approximately 30 per cent of the snow leopard habitat.
In recent times, conflict between humans and snow leopards has been increasing. During winter, due to the lack of natural prey such as blue sheep and Himalayan tahr, the snow leopards reportedly move closer to human settlements in search of cattle.
Snow leopard (Panthera uncia)is the apex predator of the Himalayan ecosystem, living above an altitude of 3,500 meters above sea level. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (2017) has estimated that there are 350-500 snow leopards in the country, compared to a global total between 3,921 and 6,290.
