Overall, the relationships between prey
availability and livestock predation by big cats appear to be straightforward,
but some more intricate cause-and-effect patterns are also possible.
For example, Harihar et al. (2011) found out that the natural
recovery of prey after relocation of local people has led to a sharp rise,
and not a decline as expected, of livestock predation by leopards because
recovering tigers displaced them closer to villages. Moreover Suryawanshi et al. (2013) concluded that snow leopard predation on
livestock may intensify with more abundant prey, presumably because
higher stock of prey supports a greater number of cats. Therefore, these
authors recommend that prey recovery programs should be accompanied
by strengthening livestock protection measures.