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Snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013
Biological Conservation 176 (2014) 207–211
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon
Short communication
Snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013 Juan Li a, Zhi Lu b,⇑ a b
Center for Nature and Society, College of Life Sciences, Peking University and Snow Leopard Trust, Beijing 100871, China Center for Nature and Society, College of Life Sciences, Peking University and Shan Shui Conservation Center, Beijing 100871, China
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 30 December 2013 Received in revised form 22 April 2014 Accepted 23 May 2014
Keywords: Bone Pelt Panthera uncia Retaliatory killing Sanjiangyuan
a b s t r a c t The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is a flagship and keystone species in much of the alpine ecosystems of Central Asia, with only 4500–7500 individuals left in the world (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). It has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1972 (Goodwin and Holloway, 1972), and included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1975 (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). They are also legally protected at the national level in every range country (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). However, poaching for the exquisite fur and highly valued bones remains a significant and mostly increasing threat to snow leopards range-wide (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). China is estimated to contain roughly 60% of snow leopard habitat and population, distributed primarily in Qinghai Province and the Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions, bus also occurring in Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). At the same time, China likely owns the largest potential market, with a billion people of increasing economic stature and traditions of utilizing wildlife for traditional purposes. As such, the combination of China’s importance for the species and its threat through the poaching and trade of snow leopards makes China a determinant player in the species’ survival. However, little detailed information ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 189 1148 9069; fax: +86 10 62761035. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Li), [email protected] (Z. Lu). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.05.025 0006-3207/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
is known on this conservation concern, which impedes formulating targeted conservation strategies. Here, through a combination of web searches and field data, we examined the pattern in poaching and trade of snow leopards in China. We analyzed all reported cases of poaching or trade of snow leopards from 2000 to 2013 across China, and also provided an estimate of the extent of poaching in snow leopard habitats of the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province. This study provides critical information needed to combat snow leopard poaching and trade in China. 2. Methods We looked up ‘‘雪豹” (the Chinese name for ‘‘snow leopard”) in Google news (https://news.google.com/?hl=zh-CN) and in the largest Chinese language-news platform – Baidu news (http://news. baidu.com), and collected all snow leopard-related poaching and trade reports in China since 2000. We recorded the time and location of the trade or poaching (if available), and the number of snow leopard parts (carcasses/pelts/bones). For each case, the numbers of body parts recorded were converted into the minimum number of animals. For example, if a case reported 27 pelts and 5 sets of bones, we assumed that 27 snow leopards were killed. Therefore our estimates should be viewed to represent the minimum number of snow leopard deaths. To evaluate how well such cases reported by news media reflect the true situation of snow leopard-related cases investigated and prosecuted by the police agency in China, we checked the reported cases in Qinghai Province with a relevant official of Qinghai Forest
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J. Li, Z. Lu / Biological Conservation 176 (2014) 207–211
Police Bureau. Qinghai Province lies in the center of the snow leopard range in China (Fig. 1), and contains the largest contiguous snow leopard habitat in China (Li, 2012). Qinghai Forest Police Bureau is a central information-processing center for all wildliferelated cases occurred in Qinghai Province. The official confirmed that the 9 cases from Qinghai Province we collected from Google or Baidu (No. 1, 2, 8, 14, 22, 30, 31, 42, 43 in Table A1) were all of the cases he knew occurred in Qinghai Province since 2000. This indicated that the cases reported by media reflected true situation of the cases investigated and prosecuted by the police agency. In addition to this coarse scale review of snow leopard poaching in China, we also evaluated poaching at a finer resolution in the heart of snow leopard range. We chose the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province, China’s largest region of continuous snow leopard habitat (Li, 2012), to conduct household interviews investigating snow leopard killing. The Sanjiangyuan Region is located on the northeast edge of the Tibetan Plateau, and has an area of 360,000 km2 and 682 villages (Fig. 1) (Editorial Commitee of Ecological Environment of Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve, 2002). Our modeling work estimated the Sanjiangyuan Region to have 89,602 km2 of snow leopard habitat with the main variables of elevation, ruggedness and land-cover type, accounting for almost one quarter of the entire area (Li et al., 2013a). We overlaid county boundaries on the predicted snow leopard habitat to calculate the proportion of predicted snow leopard habitat relative to each county. Based on this proportion and the number of villages in each county, we estimated that there were 185 villages owning snow leopard habitat. Between 2009 and 2011, we did random semi-structured household interviews (n = 144) in 41 (22%) of these villages across the Sanjiangyuan Region that overlapped with snow leopard habitat (Fig. 1) (Li et al., 2013b). To get close with local people and reduce their worries, we usually found a local guide to accompany with us during the household interviews. We would have tea and chat about their daily life first, before we transit to other questions naturally. Using questions worded carefully to prevent self-incrimination, we asked local people about the number of snow leopards killed since 2000 in their village, and historical events related to snow leopard killings (Li et al., 2013b). For example, we would ask ‘whether any snow leopards were killed in your village’ instead of ‘whether you have killed any snow
leopards’. We also asked the detailed date, time, place, people, events, numbers of snow leopards killed of each case, and count those with the same detailed information as one case, to avoid over counting the renowned cases that had been widely discussed among villages. The average snow leopard density for the Qinghai Province was estimated at 1 individual/100 km2 in Qinghai Province (Schaller et al., 1988). To estimate the proportion of the snow leopard population killed in the region annually, we therefore assumed a total population of about 896 snow leopards in the Sanjiangyuan Region. 3. Results 3.1. Snow leopard poaching and trade cases in China We recorded 43 cases of snow leopard poaching or trade reported in the media in China 2000–2013. These involved the death of at least 98 snow leopards (Table A1). Among them, parts from at least 9 snow leopards (9 pelts and 2 sets of bones) were reportedly smuggled from Mongolia into the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Table 1, Fig. 1). Other cases equated to at least 89 deaths, primarily in the snow leopard range Provinces or Autonomous Regions, including Gansu (7 cases and 34 deaths), Xinjiang (13 cases and 28 deaths), Qinghai (9 cases and 16 deaths) and Tibet (5 cases and 7 deaths) (Table 1, Fig. 2). The 89 deaths comprised 49 pelts, 36 carcasses and 12 sets of bones (Table 1). The locations indicated by the media reports show that trade on snow leopard parts were mostly tracked down in the major cities within snow leopard range provinces, especially in Linxia, Gansu Province (3 cases and 30 deaths), Xining, Qinghai Province (4 cases and 8 deaths) and Golmud, Qinghai Province (3 cases and 5 deaths) (Fig. 2). These cities are conveniently located along efficient transportation networks (Fig. 2). After 2010, trade of snow leopards began to surface outside of snow leopard range, in faraway cities including Yiwu (in Zhejiang Province) and Jinan (in Shandong Province) (Fig. 2). Most of the poaching sites were located in snow leopard habitat near trade sites. Among them, Xinjiang (8 cases and 17 deaths) and Tibet (4 cases and 6 deaths) Autonomous Regions topped the list (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1. Study area. All the 12 snow leopard range countries in the Central Asia are shown in the map. The grey area indicates the global range of snow leopards. The thick line outlines China, where we collected all the reported snow leopard poaching and trade cases 2000–2013. The diagonal line indicates the Sanjiangyuan Region and the black dots shows where we conducted household interviews.
J. Li, Z. Lu / Biological Conservation 176 (2014) 207–211 Table 1 Snow leopard poaching and trade cases in China recorded 2000–2013. Category
Province/autonomous region
Carcass
Pelt
Set of bones
Suma
Smuggle
Inner Mongolia Gansu Xinjiang Qinghai Tibet
0 2 21 8 5
9 31 6 7 2
2 8 1 1 1
9 34 28 16 7
Poach/ Trade
Zhejiang Shandong Shanghai Sichuan
0 0 0 0
1 1 0 1
0 0 1 0
1 1 1 1
Sumb
36
49
12
89
a
For each case, the numbers of body parts recorded were converted into the minimum number of animals (see Section 2). b Smuggled snow leopard parts were not included.
3.2. Number of snow leopards poached in the Sanjiangyuan Region In the household interviews we conducted in the 44 villages overlap with snow leopard habitats of the Sanjiangyuan Region, we recorded a minimum of 25 snow leopards killed by local herders or outsiders since 2000. Assuming the poaching rate of snow leopards to be the same throughout the 185 villages in the Sanjiangyuan Region, we estimated that about 113 snow leopards might have been killed in the entire Sanjiangyuan Region during that period. This averages about 11 snow leopards per year, and accounts for 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population in the area.
209
tradition among people in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Xinjiang to use snow leopard skins to make hats, coats or decorative wall mountings, but this is not so among Tibetans (Dexel and Deutschland, 2002; Li et al., 2013b). We could not estimate the relative demand for the products among local people and tourists who buy snow leopard pelts. However, we found that most newly emerged trade sites were in the developed coastal areas of China (Fig. 2). This pattern agrees with previous reports that snow leopard market may be shifting towards luxury products (EIA, 2012). Carcasses were second to pelts. At least 7 out of the 36 carcasses were attributed to retaliatory killing, including two for being implicated by retaliatory killing for wolves. Retaliatory killing is also considered to be one of the main threats to snow leopards globally (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). The impact of snow leopard depredation is considerable in some places, with up to 18% of livestock holdings lost to snow leopards annually, and retaliatory killings are often the result (Jackson and Wangchuk, 2004; Li et al., 2013b; Mishra, 1997; Namgail et al., 2007; Oli et al., 1994). In reality, it is difficult to differentiate retaliatory killing from poaching, as they are often intertwined. People might be more willing to poach snow leopards, and risk the legal implications, if they both hate them for preying on their livestock and know they are economically valuable. Bones ranked only third, but may be underestimated in our results as the species identification of bones is more difficult than that of pelts, and snow leopard bones can be mistaken for common leopard. Snow leopard bones are mainly used as the substitutes for tiger bones for uses in Traditional Chinese Medicine (Dexel and Deutschland, 2002). 4.2. Trends in poaching of snow leopards
4. Discussion 4.1. Driving forces of snow leopards poaching and trade According to the publicly reported cases in the media, pelts accounted for the largest proportion of snow leopard seizures in China, which is in accordance with patterns in other snow leopard range states (Dexel and Deutschland, 2002; Theile, 2003). It is a
As a livestock predator and an economically valuable species, snow leopard populations in China presumably declined substantially from the 1950s to 1990s. In 1956, the Chinese government started the National Program for Agriculture Development, which encouraged local herders to eliminate all the pest carnivores that could prey on livestock, including tigers, wolves, leopards and snow leopards, among other carnivores. At the same time, to
Fig. 2. Spatial pattern of snow leopard poaching and trade cases in China 2000–2013. The cross marks indicate where snow leopards were poached. The diamond indicates where snow leopards were traded.
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improve the standard of living and earn foreign exchange, the Government set up widespread stations to purchase wildlife products for exportation (Jing and Xu, 2005). From the 1950s into 1980s, an average of more than 1000 kg of ‘‘leopard bones” were collected annually from the Tibet Autonomous Region, which included bones of common leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard and Asian golden cat (Wen, 1993). Similar programs were also promoted in other snow leopard range area in China, and it nearly eliminated snow leopards in some regions in Shanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai Provinces, and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (Jinlinzhangzi, 1964; Zhang, 1985a; Zhang and Hu, 1988; Zhang, 1985b; Zhang and Hu, 1993). In 1983, however, the Chinese State Council ordered the strict protection of precious and rare wild animals, although this could not stop the trade of fur and bones in the black market (Wen, 1993). In 1988, the Chinese government issued the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife. The snow leopard was listed as a Class I national protected animal, meaning that the hunting of snow leopards now became a criminal offence; sale and purchase of snow leopards or their products was also strictly prohibited. This was followed by national laws on firearm control and the confiscation of guns in 1996. The wildlife protection law and gun bans might mark a turning point for the fate of snow leopards in China. Can snow leopards in China endure the present poaching pressures? We used the snow leopard population in the Sanjiangyuan Region as a test example. Using stage-structured population models, Chapron and Legendre estimated that a snow leopard population would start declining if annual mortality is more than 21% of the population (Chapron and Legendre, 2002). Furthermore, it is suggested that only a population larger than 15 females could sustain a poaching rate of 1 individual every 2 years (Chapron and Legendre, 2002). Our results indicate about 11 snow leopards may be killed annually in the Sanjiangyuan Region, accounting for 1.2% of the snow leopard population of the area, seemingly a small amount. However, our results are most likely an underestimation, as in spite of our careful interviews, some interviewees are hesitant to talk about illegal activities to outsiders. And it is possible that trade levels are not just moderate but of a more serious nature. On the other hand, the figure given by the model was based on many assumptions, which would be influenced by the population size, survival rates, etc. (Chapron and Legendre 2002). If the mortality rate of breeding snow leopards in this area is similar to that of Amur tiger, which is around 19–37% (Goodrich et al., 2008), the current 1.2% poaching level could precipitate population declines. We must remain vigilant on poaching activities, and launch extensive investigations to ensure that our understanding of this conservation concern is complete and accurate. The general trend of snow leopard poaching in China seems to be improving, but it must remain at the forefront of our concerns. Snow leopards are increasingly attracting greater attention from scientists, conservationists, governments and the public, both in China and worldwide. However, the newly surfaced trade sites for snow leopard products may be a warning sign that not all of this new attention is positive.
5. Conclusion Snow leopard products are primarily traded in major cities of snow leopard range provinces or Autonomous Regions that have convenient transportation routes, but our results suggest trade is expanding to other developed areas in China. Poaching mainly occurs in snow leopard habitat near the trading sites, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Regions. The economic value of the pelts and bones, and retaliatory killing are the main driving forces of snow leopard poaching and trade. For the present results,
snow leopard poaching in the Sanjiangyuan Region appears to be moderate. However, precautionary actions are, nevertheless, necessary now to mitigate the poaching and trade problems in China and preemptively avert a future crisis. First, we suggest that all cases concerning snow leopards under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife should be prosecuted vigorously. Law enforcement should also be strengthened in areas at high risks for poaching and trade of snow leopards (Fig. 2). Second, environmental education and awareness-raising programs need to be developed to targeted potential consumers, including those living outside of the snow leopards’ range. Third, it is important to mitigate human-snow leopard conflicts and therefore reducing retaliatory killings of snow leopards. These activities, concerns and solutions pertain not only to snow leopards in China, but throughout their global range. Acknowledgements Our research was funded by the Snow Leopard Trust, Panthera and Shanshui Conservation Center. J.L. was supported in part by the Snow Leopard Trust, Peking University and Postdoctoral Fellowship of Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences. We thank H. Yin, Jiagongzhala, H.Y. Ma, Y. Wang, X. Li, J.H. Liu from Shanshui Conservation Center, Y.L. Liu, L.Y. Xiao, L. Wu, H.L. Bu, Z.Y. Zhu, Y.N. Hu from Peking University, Dawajiangcai, Zhaduo, Zhaxisange and others from Sanjiangyuan Region for their assistance with household interviews and all the logistic supports. We are grateful for the Forestry Department and Forestry Police Bureau at all levels in Qinghai Province, and especially extend our special appreciation to S.D. Li, L. Zhang, and Y. Zhang of the Qinghai Forestry Department, and R.F. Li, Basanglamao, Renzeng and others from Qinghai Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve. We are grateful to G. Schaller, C. Mishra and B. Weckworth for their valuable suggestions to this manuscript. Appendix A. Supplementary material Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.05. 025. References Chapron, G., Legendre, S., 2002. Some insights into snow leopard (Uncia uncia) demography by using stage-structured population models. In: Monographic: Proceedings of the Snow Leopard Survival Summit Place of Meeting. Seattle, WA. Dexel, B., Deutschland, N., 2002. The illegal trade in snow leopards: a global perspective. German Society for Nature Conservation Berlin, Germany. Editorial Commitee of Ecological Environment of Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve ed., 2002. Ecological environment of Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve. Qinghai People’s Publishing House, Xining, China. EIA, 2012. Briefing on snow leopards in illegal trade – Asia’s forgotten cats. Environmental Investigation Agency, p. 2. Goodrich, J., Kerley, L., Smirnov, E., Miquelle, D., McDonald, L., Quigley, H., Hornocker, M., McDonald, T., 2008. Survival rates and causes of mortality of Amur tigers on and near the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Zapovednik. J. Zool. 276, 323–329. Goodwin, H.A., Holloway, C.W., 1972. Mammalia[A]. In Red Data Book. IUCN, Morges. Jackson, R.M., Wangchuk, R., 2004. A community-based approach to mitigating livestock depredation by snow leopards. Human Dimensions Wildlife 9, 1–16. Jing, H., Xu, J., 2005. The affect of human economic activity, from on mid-Qing dynasty, on the eco-environment of three rivers source regions. Ascent 24, 87–92. Jinlinzhangzi, 1964. Shanxi provincial people’s committee on strengthening the protection of resources in hunting in winter, In Shanxi Government Newspaper, Taiyuan city, Shanxi Province p. 12 Li, J., 2012. Ecology and Conservation Strategy of Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) in Sanjiangyuan Area on the Tibetan Plateau (Ph.D Thesis), In College of Life Sciences. Peking University p. 121. Li, J., Yin, H., Wang, D., Jiagong, Z., Lu, Z., 2013. Human-snow leopard conflicts in the Sanjiangyuan Region of the Tibetan Plateau. Biol. Conserv. 166, 118–123.
J. Li, Z. Lu / Biological Conservation 176 (2014) 207–211 Li, J., Wang, D., Yin, H., Zhaxi, D., Jiagong, Z., Schaller, G.B., Mishra, C., McCarthy, T.M., Wang, H., Wu, L., 2013a. Role of Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in snow leopard conservation. Conserv. Biol.. McCarthy, T.M., Chapron, G., 2003. Snow Leopard Survival Strategy. International Snow Leopard Trust and Snow Leopard Network, Seattle, WA. Mishra, C., 1997. Livestock depredation by large carnivores in the Indian transHimalaya: conflict perceptions and conservation prospects. Environ. Conserv. 24, 338–343. Namgail, T., Fox, J.L., Bhatnagar, Y.V., 2007. Carnivore-caused livestock mortality in Trans-Himalaya. Environ. Manage. 39, 490–496. Oli, M.K., Taylor, I.R., Rogers, M.E., 1994. Snow leopard Panthera uncia predation of livestock: an assessment of local perceptions in the Annapurna Conservation Area. Nepal Biol. Conserv. 68, 63–68.
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Schaller, G.B., Ren, J., Qiu, M., 1988. Status of the snow leopard Panthera uncia in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces, China. Biol. Conserv. 45, 179–194. Theile, S., 2003. Fading footprints: the killing and trade of snow leopards. TRAFFIC Int.. Wen, L., 1993. Utilization of rare wildlife in Tibet. J. Tibet Univ. 8, 50–52. Zhang, D., 1985a. The dynamic of a few animals during the last thirty years in Ili Perfecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Acta Theriol. Sinica 5, 56–57. Zhang, G., 1985b. Mammal survey in the Hainan Perfecture, Qinghai Province. Chin. J. Zool. 1, 13–16. Zhang, D., Hu, D., 1988. The resource of mammal in the north of Zhungeer and Altai. J. Xinjiang Univ. (Nat. Sci. Ed.) 5, 51–59. Zhang, J., Hu, T., 1993. Protection and utilization of wildlife resources in Sichuan Province. Sichuan J. Zool. 12, 9–11.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Biological Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon
Short communication
Snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013 Juan Li a, Zhi Lu b,⇑ a b
Center for Nature and Society, College of Life Sciences, Peking University and Snow Leopard Trust, Beijing 100871, China Center for Nature and Society, College of Life Sciences, Peking University and Shan Shui Conservation Center, Beijing 100871, China
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history: Received 30 December 2013 Received in revised form 22 April 2014 Accepted 23 May 2014
Keywords: Bone Pelt Panthera uncia Retaliatory killing Sanjiangyuan
a b s t r a c t The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000–2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is a flagship and keystone species in much of the alpine ecosystems of Central Asia, with only 4500–7500 individuals left in the world (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). It has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1972 (Goodwin and Holloway, 1972), and included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1975 (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). They are also legally protected at the national level in every range country (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). However, poaching for the exquisite fur and highly valued bones remains a significant and mostly increasing threat to snow leopards range-wide (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). China is estimated to contain roughly 60% of snow leopard habitat and population, distributed primarily in Qinghai Province and the Tibet and Xinjiang Autonomous Regions, bus also occurring in Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). At the same time, China likely owns the largest potential market, with a billion people of increasing economic stature and traditions of utilizing wildlife for traditional purposes. As such, the combination of China’s importance for the species and its threat through the poaching and trade of snow leopards makes China a determinant player in the species’ survival. However, little detailed information ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 189 1148 9069; fax: +86 10 62761035. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Li), [email protected] (Z. Lu). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.05.025 0006-3207/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
is known on this conservation concern, which impedes formulating targeted conservation strategies. Here, through a combination of web searches and field data, we examined the pattern in poaching and trade of snow leopards in China. We analyzed all reported cases of poaching or trade of snow leopards from 2000 to 2013 across China, and also provided an estimate of the extent of poaching in snow leopard habitats of the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province. This study provides critical information needed to combat snow leopard poaching and trade in China. 2. Methods We looked up ‘‘雪豹” (the Chinese name for ‘‘snow leopard”) in Google news (https://news.google.com/?hl=zh-CN) and in the largest Chinese language-news platform – Baidu news (http://news. baidu.com), and collected all snow leopard-related poaching and trade reports in China since 2000. We recorded the time and location of the trade or poaching (if available), and the number of snow leopard parts (carcasses/pelts/bones). For each case, the numbers of body parts recorded were converted into the minimum number of animals. For example, if a case reported 27 pelts and 5 sets of bones, we assumed that 27 snow leopards were killed. Therefore our estimates should be viewed to represent the minimum number of snow leopard deaths. To evaluate how well such cases reported by news media reflect the true situation of snow leopard-related cases investigated and prosecuted by the police agency in China, we checked the reported cases in Qinghai Province with a relevant official of Qinghai Forest
208
J. Li, Z. Lu / Biological Conservation 176 (2014) 207–211
Police Bureau. Qinghai Province lies in the center of the snow leopard range in China (Fig. 1), and contains the largest contiguous snow leopard habitat in China (Li, 2012). Qinghai Forest Police Bureau is a central information-processing center for all wildliferelated cases occurred in Qinghai Province. The official confirmed that the 9 cases from Qinghai Province we collected from Google or Baidu (No. 1, 2, 8, 14, 22, 30, 31, 42, 43 in Table A1) were all of the cases he knew occurred in Qinghai Province since 2000. This indicated that the cases reported by media reflected true situation of the cases investigated and prosecuted by the police agency. In addition to this coarse scale review of snow leopard poaching in China, we also evaluated poaching at a finer resolution in the heart of snow leopard range. We chose the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province, China’s largest region of continuous snow leopard habitat (Li, 2012), to conduct household interviews investigating snow leopard killing. The Sanjiangyuan Region is located on the northeast edge of the Tibetan Plateau, and has an area of 360,000 km2 and 682 villages (Fig. 1) (Editorial Commitee of Ecological Environment of Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve, 2002). Our modeling work estimated the Sanjiangyuan Region to have 89,602 km2 of snow leopard habitat with the main variables of elevation, ruggedness and land-cover type, accounting for almost one quarter of the entire area (Li et al., 2013a). We overlaid county boundaries on the predicted snow leopard habitat to calculate the proportion of predicted snow leopard habitat relative to each county. Based on this proportion and the number of villages in each county, we estimated that there were 185 villages owning snow leopard habitat. Between 2009 and 2011, we did random semi-structured household interviews (n = 144) in 41 (22%) of these villages across the Sanjiangyuan Region that overlapped with snow leopard habitat (Fig. 1) (Li et al., 2013b). To get close with local people and reduce their worries, we usually found a local guide to accompany with us during the household interviews. We would have tea and chat about their daily life first, before we transit to other questions naturally. Using questions worded carefully to prevent self-incrimination, we asked local people about the number of snow leopards killed since 2000 in their village, and historical events related to snow leopard killings (Li et al., 2013b). For example, we would ask ‘whether any snow leopards were killed in your village’ instead of ‘whether you have killed any snow
leopards’. We also asked the detailed date, time, place, people, events, numbers of snow leopards killed of each case, and count those with the same detailed information as one case, to avoid over counting the renowned cases that had been widely discussed among villages. The average snow leopard density for the Qinghai Province was estimated at 1 individual/100 km2 in Qinghai Province (Schaller et al., 1988). To estimate the proportion of the snow leopard population killed in the region annually, we therefore assumed a total population of about 896 snow leopards in the Sanjiangyuan Region. 3. Results 3.1. Snow leopard poaching and trade cases in China We recorded 43 cases of snow leopard poaching or trade reported in the media in China 2000–2013. These involved the death of at least 98 snow leopards (Table A1). Among them, parts from at least 9 snow leopards (9 pelts and 2 sets of bones) were reportedly smuggled from Mongolia into the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Table 1, Fig. 1). Other cases equated to at least 89 deaths, primarily in the snow leopard range Provinces or Autonomous Regions, including Gansu (7 cases and 34 deaths), Xinjiang (13 cases and 28 deaths), Qinghai (9 cases and 16 deaths) and Tibet (5 cases and 7 deaths) (Table 1, Fig. 2). The 89 deaths comprised 49 pelts, 36 carcasses and 12 sets of bones (Table 1). The locations indicated by the media reports show that trade on snow leopard parts were mostly tracked down in the major cities within snow leopard range provinces, especially in Linxia, Gansu Province (3 cases and 30 deaths), Xining, Qinghai Province (4 cases and 8 deaths) and Golmud, Qinghai Province (3 cases and 5 deaths) (Fig. 2). These cities are conveniently located along efficient transportation networks (Fig. 2). After 2010, trade of snow leopards began to surface outside of snow leopard range, in faraway cities including Yiwu (in Zhejiang Province) and Jinan (in Shandong Province) (Fig. 2). Most of the poaching sites were located in snow leopard habitat near trade sites. Among them, Xinjiang (8 cases and 17 deaths) and Tibet (4 cases and 6 deaths) Autonomous Regions topped the list (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1. Study area. All the 12 snow leopard range countries in the Central Asia are shown in the map. The grey area indicates the global range of snow leopards. The thick line outlines China, where we collected all the reported snow leopard poaching and trade cases 2000–2013. The diagonal line indicates the Sanjiangyuan Region and the black dots shows where we conducted household interviews.
J. Li, Z. Lu / Biological Conservation 176 (2014) 207–211 Table 1 Snow leopard poaching and trade cases in China recorded 2000–2013. Category
Province/autonomous region
Carcass
Pelt
Set of bones
Suma
Smuggle
Inner Mongolia Gansu Xinjiang Qinghai Tibet
0 2 21 8 5
9 31 6 7 2
2 8 1 1 1
9 34 28 16 7
Poach/ Trade
Zhejiang Shandong Shanghai Sichuan
0 0 0 0
1 1 0 1
0 0 1 0
1 1 1 1
Sumb
36
49
12
89
a
For each case, the numbers of body parts recorded were converted into the minimum number of animals (see Section 2). b Smuggled snow leopard parts were not included.
3.2. Number of snow leopards poached in the Sanjiangyuan Region In the household interviews we conducted in the 44 villages overlap with snow leopard habitats of the Sanjiangyuan Region, we recorded a minimum of 25 snow leopards killed by local herders or outsiders since 2000. Assuming the poaching rate of snow leopards to be the same throughout the 185 villages in the Sanjiangyuan Region, we estimated that about 113 snow leopards might have been killed in the entire Sanjiangyuan Region during that period. This averages about 11 snow leopards per year, and accounts for 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population in the area.
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tradition among people in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Xinjiang to use snow leopard skins to make hats, coats or decorative wall mountings, but this is not so among Tibetans (Dexel and Deutschland, 2002; Li et al., 2013b). We could not estimate the relative demand for the products among local people and tourists who buy snow leopard pelts. However, we found that most newly emerged trade sites were in the developed coastal areas of China (Fig. 2). This pattern agrees with previous reports that snow leopard market may be shifting towards luxury products (EIA, 2012). Carcasses were second to pelts. At least 7 out of the 36 carcasses were attributed to retaliatory killing, including two for being implicated by retaliatory killing for wolves. Retaliatory killing is also considered to be one of the main threats to snow leopards globally (McCarthy and Chapron, 2003). The impact of snow leopard depredation is considerable in some places, with up to 18% of livestock holdings lost to snow leopards annually, and retaliatory killings are often the result (Jackson and Wangchuk, 2004; Li et al., 2013b; Mishra, 1997; Namgail et al., 2007; Oli et al., 1994). In reality, it is difficult to differentiate retaliatory killing from poaching, as they are often intertwined. People might be more willing to poach snow leopards, and risk the legal implications, if they both hate them for preying on their livestock and know they are economically valuable. Bones ranked only third, but may be underestimated in our results as the species identification of bones is more difficult than that of pelts, and snow leopard bones can be mistaken for common leopard. Snow leopard bones are mainly used as the substitutes for tiger bones for uses in Traditional Chinese Medicine (Dexel and Deutschland, 2002). 4.2. Trends in poaching of snow leopards
4. Discussion 4.1. Driving forces of snow leopards poaching and trade According to the publicly reported cases in the media, pelts accounted for the largest proportion of snow leopard seizures in China, which is in accordance with patterns in other snow leopard range states (Dexel and Deutschland, 2002; Theile, 2003). It is a
As a livestock predator and an economically valuable species, snow leopard populations in China presumably declined substantially from the 1950s to 1990s. In 1956, the Chinese government started the National Program for Agriculture Development, which encouraged local herders to eliminate all the pest carnivores that could prey on livestock, including tigers, wolves, leopards and snow leopards, among other carnivores. At the same time, to
Fig. 2. Spatial pattern of snow leopard poaching and trade cases in China 2000–2013. The cross marks indicate where snow leopards were poached. The diamond indicates where snow leopards were traded.
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improve the standard of living and earn foreign exchange, the Government set up widespread stations to purchase wildlife products for exportation (Jing and Xu, 2005). From the 1950s into 1980s, an average of more than 1000 kg of ‘‘leopard bones” were collected annually from the Tibet Autonomous Region, which included bones of common leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard and Asian golden cat (Wen, 1993). Similar programs were also promoted in other snow leopard range area in China, and it nearly eliminated snow leopards in some regions in Shanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai Provinces, and the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (Jinlinzhangzi, 1964; Zhang, 1985a; Zhang and Hu, 1988; Zhang, 1985b; Zhang and Hu, 1993). In 1983, however, the Chinese State Council ordered the strict protection of precious and rare wild animals, although this could not stop the trade of fur and bones in the black market (Wen, 1993). In 1988, the Chinese government issued the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife. The snow leopard was listed as a Class I national protected animal, meaning that the hunting of snow leopards now became a criminal offence; sale and purchase of snow leopards or their products was also strictly prohibited. This was followed by national laws on firearm control and the confiscation of guns in 1996. The wildlife protection law and gun bans might mark a turning point for the fate of snow leopards in China. Can snow leopards in China endure the present poaching pressures? We used the snow leopard population in the Sanjiangyuan Region as a test example. Using stage-structured population models, Chapron and Legendre estimated that a snow leopard population would start declining if annual mortality is more than 21% of the population (Chapron and Legendre, 2002). Furthermore, it is suggested that only a population larger than 15 females could sustain a poaching rate of 1 individual every 2 years (Chapron and Legendre, 2002). Our results indicate about 11 snow leopards may be killed annually in the Sanjiangyuan Region, accounting for 1.2% of the snow leopard population of the area, seemingly a small amount. However, our results are most likely an underestimation, as in spite of our careful interviews, some interviewees are hesitant to talk about illegal activities to outsiders. And it is possible that trade levels are not just moderate but of a more serious nature. On the other hand, the figure given by the model was based on many assumptions, which would be influenced by the population size, survival rates, etc. (Chapron and Legendre 2002). If the mortality rate of breeding snow leopards in this area is similar to that of Amur tiger, which is around 19–37% (Goodrich et al., 2008), the current 1.2% poaching level could precipitate population declines. We must remain vigilant on poaching activities, and launch extensive investigations to ensure that our understanding of this conservation concern is complete and accurate. The general trend of snow leopard poaching in China seems to be improving, but it must remain at the forefront of our concerns. Snow leopards are increasingly attracting greater attention from scientists, conservationists, governments and the public, both in China and worldwide. However, the newly surfaced trade sites for snow leopard products may be a warning sign that not all of this new attention is positive.
5. Conclusion Snow leopard products are primarily traded in major cities of snow leopard range provinces or Autonomous Regions that have convenient transportation routes, but our results suggest trade is expanding to other developed areas in China. Poaching mainly occurs in snow leopard habitat near the trading sites, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Regions. The economic value of the pelts and bones, and retaliatory killing are the main driving forces of snow leopard poaching and trade. For the present results,
snow leopard poaching in the Sanjiangyuan Region appears to be moderate. However, precautionary actions are, nevertheless, necessary now to mitigate the poaching and trade problems in China and preemptively avert a future crisis. First, we suggest that all cases concerning snow leopards under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife should be prosecuted vigorously. Law enforcement should also be strengthened in areas at high risks for poaching and trade of snow leopards (Fig. 2). Second, environmental education and awareness-raising programs need to be developed to targeted potential consumers, including those living outside of the snow leopards’ range. Third, it is important to mitigate human-snow leopard conflicts and therefore reducing retaliatory killings of snow leopards. These activities, concerns and solutions pertain not only to snow leopards in China, but throughout their global range. Acknowledgements Our research was funded by the Snow Leopard Trust, Panthera and Shanshui Conservation Center. J.L. was supported in part by the Snow Leopard Trust, Peking University and Postdoctoral Fellowship of Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences. We thank H. Yin, Jiagongzhala, H.Y. Ma, Y. Wang, X. Li, J.H. Liu from Shanshui Conservation Center, Y.L. Liu, L.Y. Xiao, L. Wu, H.L. Bu, Z.Y. Zhu, Y.N. Hu from Peking University, Dawajiangcai, Zhaduo, Zhaxisange and others from Sanjiangyuan Region for their assistance with household interviews and all the logistic supports. We are grateful for the Forestry Department and Forestry Police Bureau at all levels in Qinghai Province, and especially extend our special appreciation to S.D. Li, L. Zhang, and Y. Zhang of the Qinghai Forestry Department, and R.F. Li, Basanglamao, Renzeng and others from Qinghai Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve. We are grateful to G. Schaller, C. Mishra and B. Weckworth for their valuable suggestions to this manuscript. Appendix A. Supplementary material Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.05. 025. References Chapron, G., Legendre, S., 2002. Some insights into snow leopard (Uncia uncia) demography by using stage-structured population models. In: Monographic: Proceedings of the Snow Leopard Survival Summit Place of Meeting. Seattle, WA. Dexel, B., Deutschland, N., 2002. The illegal trade in snow leopards: a global perspective. German Society for Nature Conservation Berlin, Germany. Editorial Commitee of Ecological Environment of Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve ed., 2002. Ecological environment of Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve. Qinghai People’s Publishing House, Xining, China. EIA, 2012. Briefing on snow leopards in illegal trade – Asia’s forgotten cats. Environmental Investigation Agency, p. 2. Goodrich, J., Kerley, L., Smirnov, E., Miquelle, D., McDonald, L., Quigley, H., Hornocker, M., McDonald, T., 2008. Survival rates and causes of mortality of Amur tigers on and near the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Zapovednik. J. Zool. 276, 323–329. Goodwin, H.A., Holloway, C.W., 1972. Mammalia[A]. In Red Data Book. IUCN, Morges. Jackson, R.M., Wangchuk, R., 2004. A community-based approach to mitigating livestock depredation by snow leopards. Human Dimensions Wildlife 9, 1–16. Jing, H., Xu, J., 2005. The affect of human economic activity, from on mid-Qing dynasty, on the eco-environment of three rivers source regions. Ascent 24, 87–92. Jinlinzhangzi, 1964. Shanxi provincial people’s committee on strengthening the protection of resources in hunting in winter, In Shanxi Government Newspaper, Taiyuan city, Shanxi Province p. 12 Li, J., 2012. Ecology and Conservation Strategy of Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) in Sanjiangyuan Area on the Tibetan Plateau (Ph.D Thesis), In College of Life Sciences. Peking University p. 121. Li, J., Yin, H., Wang, D., Jiagong, Z., Lu, Z., 2013. Human-snow leopard conflicts in the Sanjiangyuan Region of the Tibetan Plateau. Biol. Conserv. 166, 118–123.
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