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PRALAD YONZON CONSERVATION FORUM- SERIES 111

  • By : resourceshimalaya.org
  • May 9, 2022

PRALAD YONZON CONSERVATION FORUM- SERIES 111

Event Date : 2022-05-6

Resources Himalaya Foundation and Environmental Graduates in Himalaya organized our monthly talk program, PYCF. For this 111thseries, Dr. Geraldine Werhahn, Wildlife Biologist and Conservationist was invited as guest speaker. The program started with the welcome note and introduction of guest speaker by EGH Coordinator. Dr. Werhahn delivered a presentation on topic “Himalayan Wolf Ecology, Phylogeny and Conservation”.

Himalayan wolves were introduced as a genetically distinct wolf lineage unique to the Asian high altitudes of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. Dr. Werhahn talked about their food preference linking to the conservation. Himalayan wolves found to select wild over domestic prey, smaller (e.g. Tibetan gazelle) over larger sized wild ungulates. Thus, she highlighted smaller mammals such as Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana), woolly hare (Lepus oiostolus) and pikas (Ochotona spp.) can be important supplementary food resources for its conservation.  Going through the part of Phylogeny, Himalayan wolf deserves formal classification as a separate taxon of special conservation concern due to its evolutionary distinction and older age of divergence than the Holarctic grey wolf. Dr. Werhahn named the Himalayan Wolf as the ambassador for ecosystem conservation and insisted in conservation by providing some insights as managing livestock numbers, ensuring intact wild prey populations, with the community conservation, and awareness could help in the human-wolf conflict mitigation and maintain the relation. There was a discussion session where young researchers cleared their curiosity regarding the topic by asking questions and sharing their thoughts. The program ended with the vote of thanks and concluding remarks from Dr. Dinesh Raj Bhuju, General Secretary of Resources Himalaya Foundation.

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