Nature lovers have good news
Snow leopard shoot on SLR and Mobile Camera
Additional Deputy Commissioners Kaza successfully watch a Snow Leopard in Chichum village under Spiti Subdivision of Lahaul-Spiti district on Wednesday. On the information of local villagers ADC Abhishek Verma visited Chichum village and saw the natural habitat of a fully grown Snow Leopard in a cave. Villagers have also seen three snow leopard last year however a pair was seen by them this year. Public Relations Officer posted at Kaza told us that with freezing high altitude habitat and migration of blue sheep or ibex downward snow leopard also declined to new habits and cubs and pairs of Snow Leopard are also sighted since last two years. Ibex or blue sheep are natural prey of snow leopard. A snow leopard cub (six to eight month) on May 2, 2020 got trapped inside a livestock pan in a Giu village of Spiti valley. The cub required immediate rescue as it strayed mother and it was exhausted and thus rushed to wild animal rehabilitation center from Spiti to Himalayan nature park Kufri. After fully recovery the cub was again released on May 18 to the wild near the same location at Giu village where it was found trapped. Before releasing the cub in the wild again we have ensured to track its mother by putting the surveillance camera for two days, informed wildlife officials. As she was located the strayed cub was released near its mother to ensure their successful union again. However local villagers latter told that cub couldn’t joined its mother and milk feeding cub may have died in the snow desert as it could not hunt the prey on its own. It is worthwhile to mention that Wildlife wing in collaboration with Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) Bangalore aligning with the SPAI (Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has made head count of snow leopard under project snow leopard through trap camera and its pug marks and it counted 73 Leopard till September 2022.
The camera trap deployment over the mountainous terrains was led by a team of eight local youth of Kibber village and more than 70 frontline staff of HPFD were trained in this technique as part of the project. Snow leopards were detected at all the 10 sites (Bhaga, Chandra, Bharmour, Kullu, Miyar, Pin, Baspa, Tabo, Hangrang & Spiti) suggesting that snow leopards are found in the entire snow leopard habitat in Himachal Pradesh either as resident individuals of a population or as dispersing individuals navigating through these connecting habitats. The PSL is spread in the five Himalayan states including HP, J&K, Uttranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh about 1,28,757 sq km total project area. This study covered the entire potential snow leopard habitat of Himachal Pradesh: an area of 26,112 sq.km., utilizing a stratified sampling design. Camera trapping surveys were conducted at 10 sites to representatively sample all the strata i.e. high, low and unknown. During the SPL some of the areas of Kullu and Lahaul Spiti where footprints were also found of this elusive wild animals was also extended.In the state PSL (above 3000 m) include Lahaul, Spiti, Pangi, Kinnaur, Upper Chamba (especially Bharmour), Upper Kangra (Bara Bhangal), Upper Kullu (Mantalai, Pin Parvati, upper Great Himalayan NP, upper Manali), and Upper Simla (Rupi Bhabha, Dodra Kwar).
