Winter Habitat Use of Snow Leopards in Tomur National Nature Reserve of Xinjiang

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are one of the least known endangered species due to the remote and rugged habitat where they live in. In China, the snow leopard has been found in the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Altay Mountains, Himalayas, Hengduan Mountains and Qilian Mountains. Snow leopards were listed as ‘endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List and in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

In spite of the fact that the snow leopard is a wide spread species, its population has steadily declined during the last several decades. The habitat preference of snow leopards is a frequent research topic. Several studies about the habitat preferences of this endangered species were done in India, Nepal and Mongolia. However, the knowledge on the habitat preferences of snow leopards in China, where an estimated 30% or more of snow leopards dwell, remains unknown.

Therefore, Dr. XU Feng and other researchers studied the winter habitat preferences of snow leopards in the Tomur National Nature Reserve in Northwest China. They used sign surveys and transects to study the winter habitat selection of snow leopards. The results indicated that snow leopards showed a preference for habitat variabilities in slope aspect, vegetation cover, dominant topographical features, landform ruggedness and grazing status. They found that prey availability and dominant topographical features were the most important factors that determined the winter habitat selection of snow leopards. The results supported the idea that the habitat preferences of snow leopards are a tradeoff between suitable habitat features and avoidance of potential human interactions.

This research was supported by the Science Supporting Project of the National Ministry of Science and Technology (2008BA C39B04), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30470262 and 30970340), the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (2010DFA92720) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorships for Senior International Scientists (2009Z2-5).

The result has been published on Journal of Arid Land, 2012, 4(2): 191–195. The paper is also archived at http://jal.xjegi.com/EN/abstract/abstract139.shtml.