Alumnus

Abhishek Ghoshal

Research Associate, High Altitudes

PhD in Wildlife Science, Nature Conservation Foundation, Wildlife Institute of India, Snow Leopard Trust;M.Sc. Environment Management, Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun, India;B.Sc. Zoology (H), University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

My broad research interests lie in distribution patterns of large mammals, ecological-social-cultural determinants of species persistence in a landscape, co-occurrence-competition dynamics, impact of socio-economic development and resource extraction/use in wildlife rich areas, interactions and impact of non-native species on native wildlife and human-wildlife interactions and/or conflict. I am particularly interested in the high altitude landscapes of the Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya, although tropical ecosystems intrigue me equally.

I am currently involved in research on high altitude mammals.  For my post-doctoral research I'm looking at depredation ecology of snow leopards in relation to domestic and wild-prey. For PhD, I examined how snow leopard and its primary prey bharal and Asiatic ibex are distributed in the Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya ranges of Himachal Pradesh and what affects their distribution at multiple scales. I also looked at how migratory livestock grazing impacts vegetation and wild-prey of snow leopard. 

My previous works include surveying northern Himachal for understanding occurrences of snow leopard and its prey using secondary information. For my M.Sc. dissertation I looked at how a commensal species, red fox, responds towards village size and free-ranging dog. I have been involved in snow leopard and prey population estimation surveys, management planning and capacity building.

Projects

Publications

The forgotten mountain monarch? Understanding conservation status
of the vulnerable Ladakh Urial in India

Journal Article

2021

The forgotten mountain monarch? Understanding conservation status of the vulnerable Ladakh Urial in India

Estimating snow leopard and prey populations at large spatial
scales

Journal Article

2021

Estimating snow leopard and prey populations at large spatial scales

Journal Article

2019

Distribution and activity pattern of stone marten Martes foina in relation to prey and predators

A stupa built at the site of a wolf trap in Changthang

Journal Article

2018

Local community neutralizes traditional wolf traps and builds a stupa

Conference Proceedings

2018

Snow leopard and prey: Landscape-level distribution modeling & impacts of migratory livestock grazing in Symposium Assimilated Knowledges: an integrated approach to conservation in snow leopard landscapes

Popular Article

2018

When shepherds must kill their lambs

Two snow leopards walking

Dataset

2017

Data from: Assessing changes in distribution of the endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia and its wild prey over 2 decades in the Indian Himalaya through interview-based occupancy surveys.

Popular Article

2017

From pastures for none to pastures for all

Journal Article

2017

Assessing changes in distribution of the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia and its wild prey over 2 decades in the Indian Himalaya through interviewbased occupancy surveys

Conference Proceedings

2017

Migratory livestock grazing significantly impacts rangeland vegetation and wild-ungulate population in the Indian Trans-Himalaya

Report

2017

Population Density Estimation of Mountain Ungulates from  Upper Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh.

Report

2017

Population Density Estimation of Snow Leopard from Upper Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh

Journal Article

2017

Snow Leopard, Ecology and Conservation Issues in India

Data from: Response of the red fox to expansion of human habitation in the Trans-Himalayan mountains

Dataset

2016

Data from: Response of the red fox to expansion of human habitation in the Trans-Himalayan mountains

Journal Article

2016

Response of the red fox to expansion of human habitation in the Trans-Himalayan mountains

Conference Proceedings

2016

Impact of migratory livestock grazing on rangeland vegetation and wild-ungulate in the Indian Trans-Himalaya

Popular Article

2016

Large mammals of the Himalaya

Book Chapter

2016

South Asia: India. In Snow leopards. Biodiversity of the world: conservation from genes to landscapes. Series editor: Philip J. Nyhus, Volume editors: Thomas McCarthy, David Mallon. 

Popular Article

2016

The silence of the lambs

Popular Article

2015

The Himalayan Wildlife

Popular Article

2015

Pastures for none

Popular Article

2015

Living differently: combating climate change through unique adaptation

Popular Article

2015

Natural history on the rocks

Popular Article

2014

Land of the golden mountains

Popular Article

2013

Shooting down bharal

Popular Article

2012

Trans-Himalaya: In the shadows of a giant

Popular Article

2011

Wild blames wild