does livestock benefit or harm snow leopards?

A study by Sharma, R.K., Bhatnagar, Y.V. and Mishra, C. in 2015 determined whether the presence of livestock provides snow leopards alternative prey that helped them survive despite the increasing loss of habitat and of prey. The study made use of camera traps placed in locations where snow leopards were very likely to pass through to obtain data.

The results of the study showed that snow leopards stayed around more in an area with a greater density of wild prey. In areas where there was an increase in livestock populations, there was a subsequent decrease in populations of wild prey. As such, snow leopards tend to stay away from those locations. Snow leopards also tend to stay away from areas where they know that dogs are being used to herd livestock.

After looking through the study, I feel that it is possible for modern humans to co-exist with nature. It is possible to maintain a balance between livestock and wild prey density - one of the results showed that a certain amount of livestock can result in the highest density of wild prey. Perhaps with sustainable consumption in the (near) future, livestock density can be kept at the optimal level for wild prey populations to remain healthy. This can undoubtedly benefit snow leopards, especially if they depend more on wild prey than livestock for food.

Picture of snow leopard taken by Dave Pape, obtained from Wikimedia Commons

It can be said that livestock harm snow leopards, as the farming of livestock decreases the number and size of habitats it has to live in and hunt for prey. On the other hand, livestock can provide a source of food for snow leopards, when dogs are absent and when there is a lack of prey for the snow leopards to hunt in the wild. Hence, whether livestock benefit or harm snow leopards depends on how the farming of livestock has affected the landscape and habitat of the snow leopards.

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Study discussed in the post:
Sharma, R.K., Bhatnagar, Y.V. & Mishra, C., 2015, Do Livestock Benefit or Harm Snow Leopards?, Biological Conservation, vol. 190, pp. 8-13, ScienceDirect database. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.04.026