People, predators and perceptions: patterns of livestock depredation by snow leopards and wolves

Suryawanshi and colleagues quantified livestock depredation by snow leopards and wolves across the Indian trans-Himalaya and compared actual losses with herders' perceptions of those losses. They found that perceived predation, particularly attributed to snow leopards, often exceeded verifiable losses, and that attitudes toward predators were shaped by perception as much as by reality. Multiple-kill events in corrals strongly influenced both losses and hostility. The study showed that conflict has a psychological dimension: managing perception, through communication and corral improvements that prevent dramatic surplus-killing, can be as important as reducing actual depredation. It is a key empirical bridge between depredation ecology and the social drivers of intolerance.