연구원들은 에베레스트 산에서 신비한 고양이 종을 발견합니다

Cat News에 게재된 새로운 논문의 결과에 따르면 네팔의 사가르마타 국립공원에 있는 에베레스트 산에서 팔라스의 고양이에 대한 최초의 보고서가 확인되었습니다. 크레딧: Julie Larsen/Maher/WCS

새로운 과학적 발견은 세계에서 가장 높은 산에서 팔라스의 고양이에 대한 최초의 문서화된 발견을 표시합니다.

에 발표된 새로운 논문 고양이 뉴스 네팔의 사가르마타 국립공원에 위치한 에베레스트 산에서 팔라스의 고양이를 처음 목격한 기록을 랜드마크로 식별했습니다. 이 특별한 발견은 2019년 내셔널 지오그래픽과 롤렉스 퍼페추얼 플래닛 에베레스트 탐험의 결과로, 역사상 가장 대규모의 과학 탐사였습니다.

2019년 4월 7일부터 5월 2일까지 Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition의 생물학 현장 팀의 공동 리더이자 동물학 건강 프로그램의 일부인 Tracie Seimon 박사는 야생동물 보호 협회의 브롱크스 동물원은 에베레스트 산의 남쪽 측면에 있는 사가르마타 국립공원을 따라 해발 5,110m 및 5,190m(16,765 및 17,027피트) 고도에 위치한 두 곳에서 환경 샘플을 수집했습니다. 샘플은 6km(3.7마일) 떨어진 위치에서 채취되었습니다.

“이 희귀하고 주목할 만한 증거를 발견하는 것은 경이로운 일입니다.[{” attribute=””>species at the top of the world,” said Dr. Seimon. “The nearly four-week journey was extremely rewarding not just for our team but for the larger scientific community. The discovery of Pallas’s cat on Everest illuminates the rich biodiversity of this remote high-alpine ecosystem and extends the known range of this species to eastern Nepal.”

The DNA analysis of scat samples collected from both sites confirmed two Pallas’s cats inhabit Mount Everest and overlap in territory with red fox. The researchers found evidence of pika and mountain weasel DNA in the samples, an important food source for Pallas’s cat. These findings also add a new species to the list of known mammals in Sagarmatha National Park, a heavily visited and protected World Heritage site.

“This is a unique discovery not only in terms of science but also conservation as this population of Pallas’s cat is legally protected under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora),” said National Geographic Explorer and co-author of the paper, Dr. Anton Seimon. “We hope that the confirmation of this new charismatic species will raise awareness of and education about the diversity of species at this iconic World Heritage Site.”

The number of tourists visiting Sagarmatha National Park and Mount Everest has been dramatically increasing, from just a few thousand in the 1970s to over fifty thousand in 2019. It is notable that Pallas’s cat went undetected in this park until 2019, and the new study demonstrates how conservation genetics and environmental sampling can be utilized as a powerful approach to discovering and studying cryptic and elusive species like Pallas’s cat.

Future research combining camera trap surveys and the collection of additional scat samples would help to better define the Pallas’s cat population, range, density, and their diet in Sagarmatha National Park.

“The groundbreaking 2019 Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition continues to be extremely valuable to better understand the most iconic environment on our planet,” said Nicole Alexiev, Vice President of Science and Innovation Programs at National Geographic Society. “These results are a perfect illustration of why this work is important and a cornerstone of our partnership with Rolex to study and explore Earth’s critical life support systems.”

Reference: “First report of Pallas’s cat in Sagarmatha National Park – Mount Everest Region, Nepal” by T. A. Seimon, M. Lim, B. Nightingale, S. Elvin, A. Elmore and A. Seimon, December 2022, Cat News.
Abstract.

From April to May 2019, an international, multidisciplinary team of scientists conducted the most comprehensive single scientific expedition to Mt. Everest in the Khumbu Region of Nepal as part of National Geographic and Rolex’s Perpetual Planet Expeditions partnership. Team members from eight countries, including 17 Nepalese researchers conducted trailblazing research in five areas of science that are critical to understanding environmental changes and their impacts: biology, glaciology, meteorology, geology, and mapping. To learn more visit: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/topic/perpetual-planet