Original title: Determinants of local attitudes towards snow leopards in Shey Phoksundo National Park, Nepal
Researchers surveyed households in two parts of a Nepalese national park about their views of snow leopards. Losing more livestock to the cats did not significantly predict a household’s attitude. More positive views were linked to factors including education, living in lower Dolpo, and receiving more outside help to reduce conflict. The researchers say wider access to that help could support people and snow leopards living alongside each other.
Imagine sharing a kitchen with someone who sometimes takes food you were counting on. Losing more food does not always decide whether you can get along; having help and feeling supported can matter too. In this paper, the lost food stands for livestock killed by snow leopards, while the help stands for support that can reduce conflict between families and the cats.
Snow leopards can kill livestock that local families depend on, making conservation costly for those who live alongside them. The findings point to practical ways to build support: make help with conflicts easier to access, especially for households in upper Dolpo and people with less formal education.
The abstract reports a survey from lower and upper Dolpo in 2022, so it does not establish that the reported factors cause more positive attitudes or show whether those attitudes change over time. It also does not report whether expanding conflict-mitigation support improves conservation outcomes.
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Determinants of local attitudes towards snow leopards in Shey Phoksundo National Park, Nepal — Caitlin Laidlaw, Sanjay Nepal, Rinjan Shrestha et al. — Oryx — doi:10.1017/s0030605325000146
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.