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Living with large carnivores: Snow leopard predation on livestock in the Spiti Trans-Himalaya

Predation by large carnivores on livestock and their retaliatory persecution by pastoralists is a worldwide conservation concern. Relatively poor understanding of the ecological and social underpinnings of this human-wildlife conflict hampers effective conflict management programs. The endangered snow leopard Uncia uncia is involved in conflicts with people across its mountainous range in South and Central Asia, where pastoralism is the predominant land use, and is widely persecuted in retaliation. The report examined human-snow leopard conflicts in Spiti region of the Indian Trans-Himalaya, where livestock outnumbers wild ungulates, and the conflict is acute. It also quantified the snow leopard