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- Snow leopards have been killed in past by local communities in retaliation for their attacks on livestock
- AI cameras detect snow leopards’ presence, generate alerts for local communities about presence of animal
ISLAMABAD: Artificial Intelligence-based cameras installed along strategic locations in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region have resulted in the protection of snow leopards who are killed by local communities in retaliation for harming their livestock, the World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) said on Wednesday.
WWF-Pakistan and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) have developed and installed five AI-based camera traps at strategic locations where snow leopard depredations were reported by local communities, WWF Pakistan said in a press release.
Several snow leopards have been killed or hunted by local communities in the past in retaliation for their attacks on livestock. Poaching, illegal hunting, and habitat loss due to climate change impacts also endanger snow leopard populations across central and South Asia, the WWF added.
“The Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based trail cameras installed at strategic locations in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region have turned human-wildlife conflict into human-wildlife coexistence,” WWF Pakistan said.
This handout photograph, released by the World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan on October 23, 2024, shows WWF team members installing for reducing attacks on endangered snow leopards in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. (Photo courtesy: WWF-Pakistan)
“This recent technology has significantly reduced Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) attacks on the livestock at the targeted sites.”
The WWF explained that the AI cameras detect the presence of snow leopards in the surroundings, transfer the data to a centralized system and generate alerts for members of local communities about the predator.
Local communities in turn safeguard their livestock from either grazing in the fields or being kept in the household, reducing conflict between leopards and humans.
The WWF said that since snow leopards are elusive animals, it is difficult to record their exact population across Central and South Asia where they are found.
“However, WWF research indicates that fewer than 7,000 Snow leopards live in the world, of which approximately 200 to 420 individuals inhabit the northern mountain ranges of Pakistan including the GB region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK),” it said.