Livestock limits snow leopard’s space use by suppressing its prey, blue sheep, at Gongga Mountain, China

The habitats of snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are heavily utilized as pasturelands on the Tibetan Plateau. Livestock can benefit the snow leopard populations via providing extra prey resources. However, livestock can negatively impact upon the distribution of snow leopards by competing with their wild prey. Therefore, how grazing affects snow leopard space use is variable and its underlying mechanisms are unclear. We used 188 camera traps to systematically investigate the activities of snow leopards, their main wild prey, i.e., blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), and livestock (i.e. yaks) across 650 km2 of Gongga Mountain. We found that: (1) snow leopards were detected only in areas with higher occurrences of blue sheep, and the presence of blue sheep was crucial in driving snow leopard space use. (2) The detection frequencies of snow leopards and blue sheep were lower at sites with yaks than without yaks. (3) Yaks limited snow leopard space use mainly by competing with its main prey, blue sheep. Our results highlight that the competition pressure of livestock on wild ungulates can limit the activities of snow leopards. Grazing management should be improved for conservation of snow leopards at Gongga Mountain. •Blue sheep is crucial in determining spatial utilization of snow leopard.•Livestock outcompetes blue sheep in low altitudes.•Livestock limits snow leopard mainly via bottom-up effect mediated by blue sheep.•Alleviating competitions between livestock and wild ungulate benefit snow leopard.•Reduced and restrictive grazing is suggested for conservation of snow leopard.