Data from: Assessing changes in distribution of the endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia and its wild prey over 2 decades in the Indian Himalaya through interview-based occupancy surveys

Understanding species distributions, patterns of change and threats can form the basis for assessing the conservation status of elusive species that are difficult to survey. The snow leopard Panthera uncia is the top predator of the Central and South Asian mountains. Knowledge of the distribution and status of this elusive felid and its wild prey is limited. Using recall-based key-informant interviews we estimated site use by snow leopards and their primary wild prey, blue sheep Pseudois nayaur and Asiatic ibex Capra sibirica, across two time periods (past: 1985–1992; recent: 2008–2012) in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. We also conducted a threat assessment for the recent period. Probability of site use was similar across the two time periods for snow leopards, blue sheep and ibex, whereas for wild prey (blue sheep and ibex combined) overall there was an 8% contraction. Although our surveys were conducted in areas within the presumed distribution range of the snow leopard, we found snow leopards were using only 75% of the area (14,616 km2). Blue sheep and ibex had distinct distribution ranges. Snow leopards and their wild prey were not restricted to protected areas, which encompassed only 17% of their distribution within the study area. Migratory livestock grazing was pervasive across ibex distribution range and was the most widespread and serious conservation threat. Depredation by free-ranging dogs, and illegal hunting and wildlife trade were the other severe threats. Our results underscore the importance of community-based, landscape-scale conservation approaches and caution against reliance on geophysical and opinion-based distribution maps that have been used to estimate national and global snow leopard ranges.了解物种分布、变化模式及所面临的威胁，可为评估难以开展调查的隐秘物种（elusive species）的保护现状提供依据。雪豹（Panthera uncia）是中亚与南亚山地的顶级捕食者。目前学界对这种隐秘猫科动物及其野生猎物的分布与种群现状认知仍较为有限。我们通过基于回忆的关键知情人访谈（key-informant interviews）法，估算了印度喜马偕尔邦（Himachal Pradesh）两个时段（历史时段：1985–1992年；近期时段：2008–2012年）内，雪豹及其主要野生猎物岩羊（Pseudois nayaur）与亚洲羱羊（Capra sibirica）的位点利用（site use）情况。我们还针对近期时段开展了威胁评估。雪豹、岩羊与亚洲羱羊的位点利用概率在两个时段间并无显著差异，而野生猎物（岩羊与亚洲羱羊合计）的整体分布范围收缩了8%。尽管我们的调查区域位于雪豹的推测分布范围内，但研究发现雪豹仅利用了其中75%的区域（14616平方千米）。岩羊与亚洲羱羊拥有各自独立的分布范围。雪豹及其野生猎物的栖息范围并未局限于保护区（protected areas）内，而保护区仅覆盖了研究区域内该类群17%的分布范围。迁徙家畜放牧在亚洲羱羊的分布范围内普遍存在，是最广泛且最严重的保护威胁。流浪犬捕食、非法狩猎与野生动物贸易则是另外几类严重威胁。本研究结果凸显了基于社区的景观尺度保护策略的重要性，并警示不应依赖此前用于估算国家及全球雪豹分布范围的基于地球物理数据与主观意见的分布地图。