On the snow leopard Trails: Occupancy pattern and implications for management in the Pamir

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits one of the most challenging environments on Earth, referred to as the 'third pole'. Only a fraction of its vast range has been explored thus far, owing to myriad of barriers inflicted by the remote terrain and socio-ecological realities of the landscapes. Understanding distribution patterns of species is essential to devise practical management measures. This study aimed to understand the distribution pattern and factors influencing occupancy of snow leopard in the Pamir Mountain range through sign-based occupancy modelling. Our study confirmed that the Pamir range is a snow leopard stronghold, with occupancy estimated at 0.57 ± 0.02. The topographic features positively influenced the detection probability (p = 0.37 ± 0.005) of snow leopards. Occupancy was influenced by mean annual precipitation (β = -6.12 ± 1.8), density of roads (β = -1.61 ± 0.6) and water sources (β = 0.74 ± 0.4). Our findings underpin that sign-based distribution surveys provide vigorous scientific knowledge about elusive species and merit replication being used for other species. We propose to redefine the protected area boundaries based on ecological knowledge and encourage transboundary cooperation to safeguard snow leopards at a landscape scale.