790 O. Sanyal et al.


TABLE 1 Relative abundance of mammalian species (encounter rate of sightings and signs of presence per km surveyed, and photo-capture rate per 100 camera-trap nights) and altitude range of detections in the Kishtwar High Altitude National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India (Fig. 1).


Species


Carnivores Snow leopard Panthera uncia


Himalayan brown bear Ursus arctos Asian black bear Ursus thibetanus Red fox Vulpes vulpes


Yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula Leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis Mountain weasel Mustela altaica


Potential snow leopard prey Siberian ibex Capra sibirica


Himalayan musk deer Moschus leucogaster Long-tailed marmot Marmota caudata Pika Ochotona sp.


Encounter rate ± SE per km


0.181 ± 0.084 0.137 ± 0.023 0.054 ± 0.013 0.118 ± 0.025 0.032 ± 0.009


0.003 ± 0.002 0.017 ± 0.007 0.004 ± 0.003


0.052 ± 0.008


Park (Plate 1a). We obtained seven more photographs of snow leopards in three other grid cells, in the Kiyar and Nanth catchments of the Dacchan range and the Renai catchment of the Marwah range (Fig. 1). Of the eight cap- tures, we recorded four during the day and four during the night, with an overall capture rate of 0.123 ± SE 0.072 cap- tures/100 trap-nights. Based on their coat patterns, we iden- tified at least four different individuals. The eight captures were at 3,004–3,878maltitude. This is mostly an arid alpine region above the treeline, with steep and rugged terrain flanked by high-altitude pastures of junipers Juniperus spp., grasses and legumes on rolling hills.


Photo-capture rate ± SE per 100 camera-trap nights


0.123 ± 0.072 0.744 ± 0.338 1.565 ± 0.809 3.297 ± 0.978 0.518 ± 0.226 0.472 ± 0.275 0.017 ± 0.017


2.225 ± 1.048 0.471 ± 0.428 0.710 ± 0.480 0.816 ± 0.443


Altitude (m)


3,004–3,878 3,408–4,098 2,622–3,630 2,300–3,700 2,834–4,052 2,622–2,729 3,067–4,098


3,036–4,042 3,044–3,661 3,622–4,094 3,630–4,052


During reconnaissance surveys, trail monitoring and


camera trapping we also recorded the presence of ungulates such as the Siberian ibex and Himalayan musk deer, which have been reported previously in this area (Kichloo et al., 2023), and small mammals, including the long-tailed mar- mot Marmota caudata and pika Ochotona sp. These species are considered potential snow leopard prey (Lyngdoh et al., 2014). Of these, the highest camera-trap capture rate was of the Siberian ibex (Table 1).Wealso recorded other carnivore species with the camera traps (Himalayan brown bear Ursus arctos, Asian black bear Ursus thibetanus, red fox Vulpes vulpes, leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis, yellow-throated


FIG. 2 The location of Kishtwar High Altitude National Park, and with respect to the global snow leopard distribution.


Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 788–792 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605323001965


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140