The Indian village learning to live in harmony with snow leopards

To stop snow leopards killing valuable livestock, villagers in Himachal Pradesh have changed the way they manage land to increase the endangered cat's wild prey, while an insurance scheme offers compensation for lost stock

In the high altitude treeless expanses of Kibber, Himachal Pradesh, India, snow leopards use boulders and ridgelines to stalk blue sheep and Himalayan ibex. But they also feast on yak calves and horse foals, much to the chagrin of villagers. These animals fetch a pretty penny, and the compensation paid by the state was so measly that livestock owners didn't even bother to file claims. Had nothing been done to resolve the problem, people's hostility to snow leopards could have turned volatile.

After studying the situation, scientists at Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Karnataka, came up with a couple of ideas. Since livestock overran the pastures, wild ungulates were too few to sustain snow leopards. If people's losses were to be reduced, the population of wild prey animals had to increase.