The smallest of the big cats — the snow leopard — is facing a growing threat from increasing human population and the rising incidence of human-animal conflicts. In a bid to save the animal, which is placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) endangered list, conservationists are finding unlikely allies in corporate houses.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India has tied up with outdoor shoes, clothes and accessories retailer Woodland Worldwide to rack up funds to prevent such conflicts, which can put the elusive cat in harm’s way.

Fewer than 600-700 snow leopards — found in Central and South Asia, including in the upper reaches of Pakistan, China, and Bhutan, besides Afghanistan and further, almost till Russia — are found in India. An official census, however, hasn’t been possible due to the difficult terrain the leopard inhabits.

Little funding Though the other big cat — the tiger — has gained the lion’s share of funds from both government and non-government sources; the snow leopard, which has also earned the sobriquet ‘the ghost of the mountains’ due to its elusiveness, seems to be the runt of the fund litter.

While the government had started a Project Snow Leopard in 2009 under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme, funds have since been cut. The scheme, under which over 16 endangered species and 600 sanctuaries (besides tiger reserves) were covered, saw a budget cut of 25 per cent to ₹1,681 crore. Project Tiger, on the other hand, had an 80 per cent hike in Budget this year.

The government, instead, chose to invite corporate houses to ‘adopt’ endangered species, such as snow leopards, to offset their carbon footprint.

The harsh terrains of Ladakh house the majority of India’s snow leopards, which are mostly found at altitudes of over 4,500 metres. Inhabitants of the harsh, cold desert depend almost entirely on livestock for sustenance; which, in turn, competes for grazing rights with local wildlife — the snow leopard’s primary prey — placing humans and the predator in a fight for survival.

While Leh and the surrounding areas see a small amount of agriculture, further north, as conditions get harder, locals depend entirely on livestock.

Human costs For Ladakh local Tashi, who breeds the famous Pashmina goats besides other sheep, an attack by a snow leopard at his sheep corral left his family paralysed. While a well-made Pashmina shawl can go for as much as a couple of lakh rupees in the market, goat herders like Tashi get a meagre sum for the raw wool. His annual income from his herd — the chief source of income for the family, is in the range of just ₹40,000-50,000. Annihilation of the herd, then, makes the struggle for survival very real.

While the government has introduced schemes for compensation for goats or sheep that die in a snow leopard attack, the ₹500 per animal is insufficient and more often than not the entire claim amount is not realised, Tashi said.

WWF, with the help of funds from Woodland, is constructing corrals covered with strong metal mesh to prevent leopards from entering the corrals. The aim is to construct at least 100 corrals in the year.

“Most often once a snow leopard gets into a corral, it kills all the animals in the enclosure and takes just one for itself. A majority of the sheep die from heart attacks, and the others panic causing the leopard to kill them all,” said Pankaj Chandan Team Leader of the Western Himalayas Landscape, WWF-India.

Retaliatory killing of snow leopards by villagers though infrequent isn’t rare in the region.

‘High on Himalayas’ Woodland started a campaign earlier this year to collect funds to help save the endangered species by helping local communities protect their livestock. Under the High on Himalayas campaign, Woodland had an ‘add to bill” option for customers at its stores and collected about ₹12 lakh from customers over three months.

Harkirat Singh, Managing Director of Woodland, said the campaign ties up with its philosophy and the essence of their products, which are targeted towards outdoors activities such as trekking.

Singh further said: “It ties up with the way we do business. We make sure the materials we use have low environmental impact, and our processes are efficient.”

"The company intends to continue to support WWF for this work for at least five years, by collecting funds for four months each year."

The writer was in Ladakh at the invitation of WWF and Woodland

Correction

The news story has been modified to correct the number of corrals WWF aims to construct in the year to at least 100 corrals from 1,500 as an earlier version stated.

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