09-02-07 Interview to prof. Sandro Lovari

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- In the last days, a interview to prof.Sandro Lovari, Universiti of Siena and Ev-K²-CNR researcher, has been published on the Nepali web site www.nepalmountainnews.org. Object of the questions the research project of the zoologo and the future of the snow leopard and its prey.

   

Here is the summery of his feelings and experiences that he shared with the Nepal Mountain News. Excerpts:

>> In which research projects are you concentrating in these days?

Prof. Lovari: Presently I have three main research projects and several “side� ones. The main studies concentrate on the mating system of female roe deer, which is special because of a number of reasons, in Tuscany, and on the spatial behaviour of red deer in the Central Alps, Italy. The latter is based on the greatest number of radiotagged deer ever in Europe (56 deer). In both projects we try to understand the relationships between environmental variables and behaviour, at the population and individual levels.

The third study is that in progress in Sagarmatha National Park, on the snow leopard and its main prey species. This stems out of my other project on the reproductive behaviour of the Himalayan tahr, which started over 10 years ago in the same study area. I am especially interested in this work.

Side projects range from reintroductions of large ungulates (Apennine chamois, red deer, roe deer) to several national parks, food habits of herbivores, population parameters of wolves, phylogeography of large mammals: these are mainly Ph.D. students’ projects. A study on habitat suitability for elephants in Bangladesh has been recently completed.

Conservation and management are part of nearly all studies carried out in my research unit.

>> Why did you choose Nepal, especially Solu Khumbu, as your study area?

Prof. Lovari: Honestly, I love mountains and their nature, which makes me partial to them! Besides that, I dreamt of the Himalaya all through my childhood, as a teen-ager, as a university student and as a young researcher, but opportunities to work there did not show up till 17 years ago. I was asked by Ev-K²-CNR to carry out a zoological survey in Sagarmatha National Park and, since then, I have stuck to that study area, except for short-term studies on blue sheep in Annapurna and on goral in the Indian Himalayan foothills.

Research opportunities are very good in Sagarmatha National Park, as long as the impact of tourism does not grow too heavy. I know quite a few local people by now and I almost feel at home when I am there.

>> What is the status of the Snow Leopard and the Himalayan Tahr in Nepal?

Prof. Lovari: Not much is actually known on these species. I would nonetheless rate their status as relatively fair in Nepal, although one should never be optimistic with species living at low density, like the snow leopard, or in small isolated populations, like the Himalayan tahr.

>> Are they found elsewhere around the globe?

Prof. Lovari: Yes, they are. The snow leopard is found from Mongolia to North India, through Central-west Tibet, and westward up to Kazakhstan and Northern Pakistan. The Himalayan tahr lives all along the Central-East Himalaya. The former is considered “endangered� (no more than 5000-7000 adult individuals, over 1.600.000 Km2), whereas the latter is considered “vulnerable� by I.U.C.N.

Both species are at risk of extinction and they deserve strict conservation measures all throughout their distribution range. As to the tahr, they were introduced to New Zealand early in the last century, where their numbers kept growing and have now stabilised at less than 20000 individuals. However, they are out of their zoogeographic region in New Zealand and have had a negative impact on local vegetation.

>> When did you start working on these animals?

Prof. Lovari: I have worked on tahr for nearly two decades by now, whereas the snow leopard is a “new addition� of the last 3-4 years, since this large cat came back to the park, after being locally extirpated by man in the ‘60s.

>> How many organisations and people, in your knowledge, have been working in your same field of research?

Prof. Lovari: There have been isolated short-term projects on tahr biology since the mid-70s, but only very few (even less have led to publications). Population ecology of Himalayan tahr has been the subject of more work in New Zealand – but there the species occurs in a non-natural area, out of their original distribution range.

The snow leopard has been studied in Dolpo and Annapurna (Nepal), as well as in Mongolia. Recently, a study has started in Pakistan. R. Jackson and T. McCarthy, as well as G. B. Schaller, have been the “godfathers� of research on snow leopards. Several other people have carried out surveys or collected some data, but a thorough, long-term research, inclusive of monitoring its main prey, is still lacking. I hope to set it up in Sagarmatha National Park and I have great expectations, but I need the cooperation of Nepali agencies very much.

This work cannot be done without the backing of the Nepali Ministry of Forestry, the DNPWC, NAST and WWF-Nepal. Ev-K²-CNR is willing to invest a great deal in this project, but we cannot carry it out all by ourselves… this is even more true given that we are working in other people’s home!

>> Why do you think these species deserve scientific attention?

Prof. Lovari: Because they are at risk of extinction: this is a very good reason! They deserve to be studied to find out why their numbers are dwindling and to mitigate the situation by suggesting appropriate conservation measures.

Furthermore, management problems can be better solved when you know what you are talking about. To do so, you need time (even years!) to collect and analyse data. Very few people – not very bright ones – will blindly invest their money or take medicinal plants without the advice of an expert, but most think that wildlife management can be done by just about anyone and in absence of sound basic data… which is wrong, of course!

>> Which results have been obtained so far? How can they help these animals?

Prof. Lovari: Especially in recent years, we have obtained quite a lot of stimulating data and several scientific papers are in the pipeline. As to conservation, there are several aspects which deserve keen attention. The return of the snow leopard has brought about a sharp decrease of musk deer and, in particular, of Himalayan tahr. This effect is not so important as to the musk deer, because its habitat is only marginally overlapping with that of the snow leopard.

On the contrary, it is very alarming as to the tahr: the snow leopard is taking nearly all the kids of the tahr at each reproductive season, in addition to quite a few adults (solitary young males seem to be particularly exposed to predation). Such a heavy toll has completely destructured the tahr population in Sagarmatha National Park: individuals less than 5 year old have become much rarer than before.

In fact, small, isolated populations of herbivores are particularly sensible to stochastic predation events and they may be wiped out within a few years. Our data show that the diet of snow leopards concentrates (about 70%) on tahr in summer, after the birth season, decreasing to about 30% in late autumn – with a corresponding increase of predation on livestock when tahr kids are no longer available.

Both the predation on tahr and that on livestock suggest that conservation troubles are forthcoming… even more so, since we are talking about two threatened species (predator and prey) in an important and world-famous national park, recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site! Our work has documented what is going on so far. As to solutions… they are not going to be so easy to find.

>> What should be done, in your opinion, for the conservation of these animals?

Prof. Lovari: In the first place, because of a number of reasons, we should discard all options dealing with a “management� of the newly forming population of snow leopards. A greater direct control of free-ranging livestock could be advisable. The reintroduction of blue sheep at the higher altitudes could also “buffer� predation on livestock. Compensations to shepherds will also help. No measure, by itself, will provide a solution: several shall have to be implemented at the same time.

Hopefully, the tahr itself might find a way to make kids less available to snow leopards, for example females with kids could start -or probably resume- attending steeper grazing grounds, or gathering in larger herds for better surveillance: antipredatory behaviour may have gone lost because of 40 years of absence of predators. Tahr recovery would also benefit from the reintroduction of blue sheep, if carried out.

>> Which problems have you met in your field of research?

Prof. Lovari: Quite a few. Funding is much easier to get for “fashionable� scientific disciplines, such as molecular genetics and biomedical research, than for behavioural or ecology work.

A slow flow of scientific papers is also to be expected when you work in the field, very often in conditions of harsh weather and poor logistics, on animals who move over large, sometime huge, distances: data collection is not that easy or predictable.

On the other hand, watching the beauty of wild animals in their natural habitat is a great reward… beside the satisfaction of unravelling their secrets and witnessing the ways their populations keep surviving and adapting to the variable environmental conditions of mountains.

>> How do you find the working environment in Nepal?

Prof. Lovari:As to the physical aspects of the working environment, they are hard but exceedingly attractive… no colleague of mine can boast a view of three mountains over 8000 m high and of several others over 6000 m as a backdrop to their labs, while the Sagarmatha National Park has just that! As to the human aspects, occasionally I would appreciate a smoother and quicker approach to solve bureaucratic slow-downs… Apart from that, my Nepali co-workers are all nice people with whom working and living in the field is easy. They appear motivated and dedicated, with the appropriate attitude I require. I should mention here the names of Kamal Thapa and Birka “Lalu� Gurung, who have been working with me since last September.

>> Which plans have you got for the near future?

Prof. Lovari: My research plans in Nepal will depend very much on the cooperation Nepali agencies provide to let us collect and export biological samples to Italy for analyses.

Also, some careful trapping and satellite radiotracking of 4-5 snow leopards would be very important to monitor their movements and habitat use… but we need permits from three ministries to do it! So far, we have been carrying out scat analyses (in the field) and kept a monthly record of snow leopard signs of presence along itineraries totalling over 18 km. We are going to start genetic analyses of scats to assess leopard numbers and sex throughout the years.

Also, prey counts have started: tahr, musk deer and pheasant numbers have been and will be assessed. Prey selection and predation effects on population structure of tahr are also being monitored. Livestock counts and evaluation of predation events on them will be carried out.

Eventually, we hope to have data for a thorough analysis of predator/prey relationships, which in turn should lead to its understanding and to an adaptable management.

>> At last, which message would you like to pass on through our news portal?

Prof. Lovari:I shall quote the lines that the renown zoologist George B. Schaller wrote in one of his books, in 1993: “A biologist must not only study nature, but also induce action on behalf of conservation, and this guarantees problems for any project�.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed…

[www.nepalmountainnews.org]