Conservation of Snow Leopard Habitat

A Snow Leopard Research Center is going to be constructed in Kibber in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himacal Pradesh, India. The Snow Leopard population in the Western Himalayas are distributed in the Greater Himalayas and the Trans Himalayas (rainshadow area beyond the Greater Himalayas consisting of rugged mountains and steppe treeless desert landscape), with most of its population distributed in the latter.

Snow leopards, and its associated prey species share their habitat with pheasants in the moist temperate forests of Greater Himalayas.

See the following video on You Tube-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3oGuEYJKOU&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8tt75N4h54&feature=player_embedded

Plight of the Himalayan Black Bear

A Himalayan Black Bear resting in the Kufri Nature Park, Simla, H.P. (India). Photo by Anita Chauhan at http://www.flickr.com/photos/30654468@N03/sets/72157622385823551/with/3978997674/

Four species of bear are found in India - including, Himalayan Brown Bear, Himalayan Black Bear, and Sloth Bear. Listed as 'Vulnerable' in the IUCN Red List, the Himalayan Black Bear is hunted for its bile, which is supposed to have medicinal qualities and fetches a good sum for the poachers.

Arranging alternative employment for the poachers (most of whom are from the villages in or around the National park) will help in bringing down the incidents of poaching. For example, cultivation of high value medicinal plants, handicrafts, village museums, home-stays etc.
The bear-bile trade route has to be plugged. Also, building more anti-poaching patrol huts has shown to increase the efficiency of monitoring in remote inhospitable terrain.
Read about the plight of a bear in GHNP at -
Plight of the Himalayan Black Bear

IUCN Bear Specialist Group -
http://www.bearbiology.com/iba/about0.html
http://www.bearbiology.com/

More about the bear bile problem -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30654468@N03/5534253930/

An update:

The bear bile trade in Asia, TRAFFIC report

http://www.iucnredlist.org/news/illegal-bear-bile-trade-rampant-in-asia

http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/traffic_species_mammals65.pdf

http://prezi.com/y_mqfj2c8acx/the-bear-bile-trade-in-asia/

http://www.traffic.org/home/2011/5/11/illegal-bear-bile-trade-rampant-in-asia.html

Update: http://www.indianbears.com/