Livestock husbandry practices and herd composition influence leopard-human conflict in Pokhara Valley, Nepal

ABSTRACT

Leopard (Panthera pardus) predation on domestic animals is often associated with human-leopard conflict. We investigated leopard predation patterns of domestic animals using a semi-structured questionnaire. We quantified domestic animal losses in randomly selected households (n = 62) and households with previously reported leopard predation (n = 33) in the Pokhara region of Nepal from 2014–2016. Leopard predation of livestock was relatively rare (0.6% risk of livestock being taken per year versus 8% chance of death due to disease). The probability of leopard attacks decreased as the proportion of larger stock increased in flocks, and with increasing flock sizes. Several indigenous animal husbandry practices influenced livestock predation patterns by leopards and the level of human tolerance. These include communal ownership of free roaming dogs and mixing flocks of goats with large stock.

KEYWORDS:

• Panthera pardus
• livestock predation
• human-leopard conflicts
• coexistence

Additional information

Funding

BA was supported by the Norwegian State Education Loan Fund (Lånekassen) and Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. JVLB was supported by a Ramon & Cajal research contract (RYC-2015-18932) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. Special thanks to WildTiger Conservation Research and Development and District Forest Office, Kaski for support during the field work and research permission respectively.