Field Notes, Baltistan

by Rodney Jackson

Skoyo Village, Baltistan
June 17, 2004

I was asked to train eight men selected by the village leaders of Skoyo in relevant aspects of snow leopard behavior, how to determine pugmark age, and to differentiate between fox and snow leopard. I was assisted by Shafqat Hussain, Ghulam Mohammed of Full Moon Night Trekking, and volunteer Andrew Chinn.

Snow leopard conservation in this area is complicated by a local community-based trophy hunting program. One trophy license is issued per year by the central government to hunt the endangered markhor (wild goat) under a special CITES exemption. The fee of $25,000 is split 20% to the government, 80% to the community. For Skoyo, which has prime markhor habitat, this amounts to some $6,500.

It is not surprising, then, that the villagers fear losing out on the trophy fee if snow leopards were to wipe out the markhor, which they view as their property. They had thought about eliminating snow leopards, and even questioned whether trophy hunting for cats would be possible. I explained that predators often kill those animals which would have died of disease or other causes, and that they rarely, if ever, eliminate their prey through over-hunting. We discussed the limitations of a single-species conservation system such as trophy hunting, compared to a more holistic ecosystem approach. SLC will contact IUCN to determine how best to resolve this important issue.

SLC provided binoculars and two CamTrakkers for a camera trap count. Project Snow Leopard, with the villagers, will establish at least five permanent transects along winter travel routes above Skoyo. These routes will be monitored every year at the same time, using the same methods and personnel.

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