Piloting Noninvasive Pathogen Assessment and Perceptions at the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia)-Domestic Animal-Human...

Little is known about pathogens circulating in free-living snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and their implications for both species conservation and local communities in Nepal. The close proximity between snow leopards and domestic animals increases the risk of pathogen spillover and represents a critical knowledge gap that has yet to be explored in Nepal. We conducted a pilot noninvasive health assessment of snow leopards in Nepal by screening for the presence of selected pathogens in snow leopards and livestock inhabiting the same area and having local community members complete a knowledge, attitude, and practice questionnaire focused on the health of domestic species and opinions on snow leopards. We collected two different sets of fecal samples of domestic animals and putative snow leopards in the Mustang region of Nepal in December 2024. Six scat samples were confirmed to be from snow leopards by using a species-specific PCR. We detected Leptospira spp. in a domesticated horse sample and Escherichia coli and several intestinal parasites, including Eimeria spp., in several livestock species. This study represents a step toward understanding potential pathogen spillover risks between snow leopards, domestic animals, and humans.