Snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000-2013

Juan Li, Zhi Lu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

57 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The snow leopard is a flagship species of the alpine ecosystem in the Central Asia, with China comprising nearly 60% of the habitat and population. It was listed as endangered by IUCN and included in Appendix I of CITES in the 1970s. Poaching for its fur and bones is a significant and increasing threat to snow leopards globally. However, little detailed information is available on snow leopard poaching in China. Here, we collected all reported cases of snow leopard poaching and trade in China 2000-2013. We found that snow leopard parts were mainly traded in the major cities within their range provinces, but also began to emerge in a few coastal cities after 2010. Household interviews in the Sanjiangyuan Region in Qinghai Province showed that in this sub region alone, 11 snow leopards were killed annually, accounting for about 1.2% of the estimated snow leopard population there.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)207-211
Number of pages5
JournalBiological Conservation
Volume176
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bone
  • Panthera uncia
  • Pelt
  • Retaliatory killing
  • Sanjiangyuan

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