Short Communication Decline of the Tibetan gazelle Procapra picticaudata in Ladakh, India

and rolling slopes interspersed with lake basins. The vegetation includes open alpine steppe communities with c. 15% vegetation cover. Vegetation is usually dominated by grass, and biomass rarely exceeds 15 g m−2 (Schaller, 1998; data from adjoining sites in Tibet). The growth season is limited to June–September and temperature regularly falls to −30°C during the long winter. The gazelle was relatively common during the early 20th century when it occurred over much of the c. 20,000 km2 Changthang region in eastern Ladakh (Burrard, 1925; Stockley, 1936; Fig. 1). However, by the early 1980s excessive hunting had reduced this range to c. 1,000 km2 (Fox et al., 1991). Although hunting was brought under control by the late 1980s, gazelle populations did not recover (Chundawat & Qureshi, 1999). The species is currently accorded the highest conservation status in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 (Anon, 1992). Its Red List status has been categorized as Critically Endangered within India (Anon, 1998). In October 1999 and August 2000 we surveyed the entire historical range of the gazelle in Ladakh. We searched for gazelles from a slow moving vehicle (10–12 km h−1) covering 1,232 km in eight blocks (KharuChangla, Changla-Tangtse, Parma Valley, Pongong Tso (south bank), Chushul-Tsagala-Loma, Loma-Demchok (Upper Indus), Loma-Rongo-Hanle (Khaldu), and Hanle – Kalang Tar Tar. In the non-motorable areas of Hanle c. 20 km was covered on foot. In all areas we interviewed local people about the past and current occurrence of the gazelle. The survey confirmed the occurrence of the gazelle only in the Hanle Valley. Two populations reported Yash Veer Bhatnagar* (Corresponding author) and Charudutt Mishra International Snow Leopard Trust (India Program), Nature Conservation Foundation, 3076/5, IV Cross, Gokulam Park, Mysore, Karnataka, India – Pin Code: 570002. E-mail [email protected]