“Rapid infrastructure development, primarily roads, potentially degrades the Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) habitat resulting in disrupting the big cats’ movement and increasing human-wildlife conflict in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. The prey species of the Snow leopard such as Himalayan ibex and domestic livestock are also killed due to heavy traffic on the highways”.
This has been revealed in WWF-Pakistan’s baseline research study undertaken through the project titled “Building Ecological and Sustainable Transport and Linear Infrastructure for Snow Leopards in the Hindu Kush Karakoram Himalaya Landscape in Pakistan (BEAST)”.
The project was supported by the “With Snow Leopards Small Grant” (SLSG) initiated by Tencent Foundation and Shan Shui Conservation Center with support from Huatai Foundation, Amity Foundation, and Pecking University Center for Nature and Society.
The study recommended that there is need to strike a balance between boosting infrastructure development with conservation of threatened wildlife such as Snow leopards in the region. The report stated that the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region is home to diverse wildlife including vulnerable Snow leopards.
It pointed out that the linear infrastructure development, which cuts through the landscape such as roads, has fragmented the Snow leopard habitat. The report found that although linear infrastructure improves national and regional economies, it restricts wildlife movement and poses threat to the Snow leopards and their prey species such as ungulates.
