A snow leopard in the Jigme Dorji National Park

A snow leopard climbed down from the hill to where a small herd of takin was grazing in the ground below. The grey and white furred cat aimed for a calf circling the herd, but within minutes the adult takins huddled together and, to the surprise of a group of conservationists watching, the cat slowly slithered away.

Among them was Tshewang R Wangchuk, who was recently nominated as the National Geographic explorer of the week on September 5 to highlight several years of work on snow leopards in the Bhutanese mountains.

“Learning about this cat allows me to visit the places I like,” Tshewang said, adding that it was an honour. “But it’s really the many colleagues in the field, including residents from our mountain communities, that I have come to know over the years that deserve this honour for their dedication, knowledge, experience and generosity.”

The dedicated Bhutanese team braved chilly camping accommodations in the park (Pic courtesy: newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)

The executive director of Bhutan Foundation has traversed Bhutan’s mountains from Nub Tshona Patta in Haa to Shingphel and Mela in Trashiyangtse. “Globally, Bhutan offers hope for the snow leopards that are safest in Bhutan than anywhere else across its range,” he said.

On human-wildlife conflict, Tshewang said that a cycle of conflict is complete when predators kill livestock; herders become infuriated, and kill the predator. This, he added, is not the case in Bhutan. “Our herders have a very high level of tolerance and they don’t stone the snow leopard to death as they do in other countries,” said Tshewang. “Bhutan is different and livestock predation is not something new.”

People have lived with wildlife for ages and herders often say that, when their choesung are displeased, they lose a few animals.

“I feel for their loss, but we need innovative mechanisms to reward their tolerance, not small handouts. They’re intelligent people, they have the solutions. We just have to do a better job of listening to them,” Tshewang said, adding that herders’ attitudes are changing, and government needs to act now.

“For Bhutan, we don’t have a choice and we need to give conservation a high priority, because we’ve inherited an invaluable natural heritage, and therefore have a huge responsibility to pass it on to the next generation,” he said. “We have almost a third of the 37 wild cat species in the world. Wildlife, as integral parts of our natural systems, already benefits Bhutan.”

Source: Kuenselonline