Empowering and Educating Local Communities for the Conservation of Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul) in Manang Valley, Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Rinzin Phunjok Lama


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30 Apr 2014

Abundance, Distribution and Conservation Initiative of the Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul) – The New Cat Species for Nepal

The proposed project will impart the knowledge about the Pallas’s cat and other wildlife to local communities and foster them in conservation of Pallas’s cat and other wildlife through community workshops, trainings and outreach activities in Manang valley of Annapurna Conservation Area.

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The Manang valley is an important habitat for Pallas’s cat however the uncontrolled livestock grazing, rapid depletion of its major prey species due to habitat degradation and lack of knowledge are the major survival threats for this rare and elusive cat in the area. Therefore this project will educate, empower and involve the local herders in the conservation of Pallas’s cat. Since school children, teachers and communities can play significant role in conservation; the proposed project will also impart the knowledge on Pallas’s cat and encourage them in the conservation activities. One of the key objectives of the project is to convince the local herders for managed and cat friendly grazing activities in the valley; for example controlling the dogs in the Pallas’s cat habitat, and restricting the grazing in the possible breeding ground during breeding time of the cats.

The project activities will be beneficial for the rare and elusive Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul) which has been listed as 'Near Threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Since the habitat of Pallas's cat and Snow leopard is overlapped, the project activities are also beneficial to the conservation of 'Endangered' Snow leopard and its habitat.

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