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Time of India
16 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
Scientists use clever trick to count ghosts of the mountains
NEW DELHI: Wildlife scientists while enumerating snow leopards in India during the last population assessment used a smart trick to make the elusive big cats in the high and rugged Himalayas pose in front of cameras and get their foreheads having distinctive patterns, akin to human fingerprints, photographed. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now They used a scent, which only had a localised effect, in luring and making a snow leopard bend down and expose its forehead to the appropriately positioned camera trap, according to a recent study that explained the methodology adopted to count the big cats, nicknamed 'ghost of the mountains'. It was done by spraying a small amount of perfume just below the cameras that were deployed near their favoured scent marking rocks on high-ridge tops, said the authors of the study published last month in the open-access journal PLOS One. They added that once the curious leopards lower their heads to smell, the enumerators got their prized-unique pictures Though the snow leopard population assessment in India was done during 2019-23 and the counting figure, total 718 in India, was released last year, the scent lure method was revealed in the study by Pankaj Raina from the Ladakh wildlife protection department and co-authors, including senior wildlife scientist at the Indian national science academy, Yadvendradev V Jhala, and others from the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. "We identified individual snow leopards through their unique forehead pattern," said the authors while underlining that every camera trap photograph was geotagged and stamped with the time and date information in the metadata. "The photo-captured species were identified using an AI-based software programme, CaTRAT, customised to identify Himalayan species. The identified species were subsequently validated by biologists," they said. The counting figures, released in 2024, show the highest number, 477, of snow leopards in Ladakh out of total population of 718 in India. Among the remaining ones, 124 snow leopards are in Uttarakhand, 51 in Himachal Pradesh, 36 in Arunachal Pradesh, 21 in Sikkim and 9 in Jammu & Kashmir. Covering approximately 1.2 lakh sq km, the counting exercise was conducted using a meticulous two-step framework. The first step involved evaluating snow leopard spatial distribution while the second step involved estimation using camera traps in each identified stratified region. During the exercise, camera traps were deployed at 1,971 locations, including 956 in Ladakh.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Ladakh in India records world's highest snow leopard density
In a scientific study conducted recently, it was revealed that Ladakh is home to the highest density of snow leopards ever recorded internationally. As per the peer-reviewed research published in the journal PLOS ONE, Ladakh has nearly 68% of India's total snow leopard population. There are 477 snow leopards alone in the region out of the national total of 709, which is a remarkable feat! What does report reveals Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an elusive big cat that can be spotted across rugged mountain terrains in 12 countries across South and Central Asia, including India. The study also revealed that the global snow leopard densities usually range between 0.92 and 1.8 animals per 100 km². The report says that Hemis National Park in Ladakh is now home to an unprecedented density of about 2.07 animals per 100 km², the highest ever recorded on the planet! This surpasses previous high-density estimates from regions in Tibet, which topped out at around 1.84 animals per 100 km². The study also shows that 39% of Ladakh's snow leopards have the majority of their activity centered within protected areas. In addition, some 57% of the big cats were found to use these protected zones in their movement patterns, highlighting the significance of such regions in the conservation of snow leopard. Most comprehensive snow leopard survey This research is being touted as the most comprehensive snow leopard survey ever conducted in Ladakh which used a double-sampling technique by researchers. The technique was used over 59,150 km² landscape! For those who don't know, the method combined occupancy surveys, camera traps, spatially explicit mark-recapture techniques, and habitat modeling to produce the most accurate assessment to date of the snow leopard's population and distribution in the region. And the credit goes to… Pankaj Raina who was the lead author of the study also serves as a divisional forest officer with the eco-task force project in Jammu. He credited the high density of snow leopards in Ladakh to many factors but mostly emphasised the role of the Ladakhi people's cultural reverence for wildlife. Next, the availability of wild prey in the region and consistent conservation work by the Ladakh Wildlife Department. He also talked about the role of Ladakh's harsh and remote terrain and low human population which promotes wildlife in the region. Local communities have long practiced coexistence with nature, which is reflected in the healthy population of snow leopards,' he explained. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
