Cover of 'Irbis, the Snow Leopard' - the book by Oleg and Irina Loginov from Kazakhstan.

Today Darla Hillard, Education Director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy shares a review of the new book “Irbis, the Snow Leopard” by Oleg and Irina Loginov from Kazakhstan. Darla is the author of the amazing “Vanishing Tracks – four years among the Snow Leopards of Nepal”, the remarkable story of her and Rodney Jackson’s years of ground breaking snow leopard research.

Here Darla writes about Irina and Oleg’s book.

I met Oleg Loginov in summer 2011. We both were in Gorno-Altaisk, capital of Siberia’s Altai Republic, to attend the town’s first Snow Leopard Day festival. We were very impressed by the children from rural villages, who sang and danced on a stage in the town center. Each performance was a tribute to the beautiful endangered snow leopard, calling for conservation action, to ensure that Siberia’s “Silver Wonder” continues to roam the magnificent Altai-Sayan Mountains. What a great occasion, then, on which to receive a copy of IRBIS, The Snow Leopard, the book that Oleg and his wife, Irina, produced under the UNDP/GEF Biodiversity Conservation Program!

The beautiful mountains of Kazakhstan are snow leopard habitat where the Kazakhstan Snow Leopard Fund works to protect the endangered cats.

IRBIS is a gorgeous hardbound volume. At 8.5”x11” (21.5x28cm), the pages are large enough for stunning photos and paintings of snow leopards and the landscapes in which they live. Oleg knows snow leopards.  He worked with them at the Almaty Zoo, and he and Irina founded the nonprofit Snow Leopard Fund to educate the general public and leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) about Kazakhstan’s snow leopards. In addition, Oleg wrote the Conservation Strategy of the Snow Leopard in Kazakhstan, which was officially approved in August, 2011.

One of the many beautiful photos of snow leopards in the book.

In the chapter on the various groups working to protect snow leopards, Oleg presents a set of recommendations for actions that should be taken in the CIS countries.  I believe that the tourist, or other reader unfamiliar with the issues—a target group for this book—will appreciate this information, and knowing that positive steps can be taken.

The text for IRBIS was originally written in Russian, and the English translation isn’t perfect. But in my opinion the passion that Oleg and Irina pour into this volume far outweighs any errors.

A lovely children’s fairy tale by Irina, Spirits of the Sacred Mountain, is based on the indigenous Altai people’s worldview of the snow leopard.

Oleg chose photos that capture beautifully the spirit and force of these elusive big cats. He points out that most snow leopards are born under the sign of Taurus, since the females give birth between late April and early June. One trait of Taureans is a calm and predictable nature.  Oleg tells of Renat Minibayev, who went in January 2010 to visit his beekeeper friend in the mountains of Dzhungarsky on the boarder of China and Kazakhstan. Minibayev went on a ski walk to a nearby canyon; there he had an amazing encounter with a snow leopard. He took thirty photos, some from a distance of 1.5 meters. He said that over the time he and the cat watched each other, he fell in love.

That’s what Oleg and Irina hope for this book—that people will fall in love with snow leopards and join the fight to save them.

IRBIS, The Snow Leopard is available for a donation of $300 in support of the Snow Leopard Fund’s programs. Orders can be made by emailing the authors at irbisslc@yandex.kz.  Tax deductible donations (in the US)  earmarked for the book can be made via the Snow Leopard Conservancy, who will forward 100% of donations to the Snow Leopard Fund in Kazakhstan.

Oleg and Irina Lognov's book Irbis - Snow Leopard to support the work of snow leopard conservation in Kazakhstan.

We haven’t written much about the snow leopards of Kazakhstan in this blog as there has been little conservation or research work done there in the past. This is rapidly changing.

“IRBIS – The Snow Leopard” about Kazakhstan’s rare snow leopards has just been published in English. Written by biologists Oleg and Irina Loginov this book was previously only available in Russian. It is a major initiative of Kazakhstan’s “Snow Leopard Fund” (Ust Kamenogorsk) with the financial support of the UN (UNDP/GEF).  The snow leopard is an important symbol in the history of the country and now efforts are being made to help its survival in the Kazakhstan part of the Altai-Sayan ecoregion which has for many years been known to be snow leopard habitat but has had few conservation or community development efforts focused there.

The beautiful mountains of Central Asia, snow leopard habitat in Kazakhstan

Oleg says, “In Kazakh public consciousness the snow leopard is often called “The Master of Celestial Mountains”, and it is a predator never attacking people. Snow leopard protection is still insufficient – more than 90 % of habitats of a snow leopard are not covered by especially protected natural territories.” Oleg believes snow leopards require more protected reserves in Kazakhstan. “All places of snow leopard habitat in mountains, as a rule, have no intensive economic activities, therefore can quite become extensive natural parks or game reserves.”

Oleg says the book has been written with great emotion and “is entertaining and accessible to the widest audience. It can be used as manual for schoolboys and students, and for the foreign tourists, wishing to learn more about a live symbol of “Celestial Mountains”, and in general for people loving the nature.”

The unique photos of a wild snow leopard in the book were taken in Almaty area in Dzungarian Ala-Tau (Kazakhstan) by Renat Minibaev. There are also beautiful snow leopard portraits by Raphael Kettsian from Ekaterinburg (Russia), and also water colour drawings by Victor Bakhtin, Victor Pavlushin and Oleg Loginov. Irina Loginov’s fairy tale ”Spirits of Sacred Mountain” is also included in the edition, illustrated with drawings by the author.

Irbis is the Russian and Kazakh word for snow leopard.

Congratulations Oleg and all those concerned and we wish you well with your efforts to protect the snow leopards of Kazakhstan.

The beautiful Book is a limited edition publication available for $300. Contact Oleg – irbisslc@yandex.ru

Irbi, the snow leopard mascot for the 7th Asian Winter Games to be held in Kazakhstan end of January 2011.

The 7th Asian Winter Games 2011, to be hosted in Kazakhstan, have chosen the snow leopard as their mascot. The Games are held every four years among athletes from all over Asia under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee. This year the event is expected to attract athletes from 45 countries and includes sports like skiing, ice hockey, skating.

Kazakhstan is one of 12 nations in Asia that has endangered snow leopards, but with many threats to snow leopard habitat in the country, the population is estimated to be a only a few hundred.

The mascot is called Irbi, the word for snow leopard in this region being Irbis. Hopefully the cute little guy will help bring a lot of attention to the plight of the endangered species and help educate people about conservation efforts.

The Games run from the 30^th January – 6^th February, 2011.

Snow Leopard Fund Kazakhstan

Oleg Loginov is a snow leopard zoologist, passionate about saving the last remaining endangered cats in Kazakhstan. Last month he contacted me with wishes for a Happy year of the Snow Leopard – something he’s working for.

Oleg lives in Ust-Kamenogorsk near Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan. He was formerly employed at Alma-Ata zoo in the capital. He’s the founder and director of the Snow Leopard Fund Kazakhstan which was launched in November 2009.

Kazakhstan map. Source Wikipedia.

I’m writing about Oleg because he is facing a huge battle. He’s passionate about saving snow leopards in his country. There was a time when snow leopards were numerous there but over the years, hunting, poaching and habitat loss have decimated the numbers. Estimates vary but it’s likely there are only 100 or so left.

Sadly not many people know or care about the snow leopard being endangered, and this includes many government officials. In fact some government officials still give snow leopard pelts as official gifts, thus sanctioning the killing of the rare cats. But Oleg is keen to research the remaining snow leopards and work with his fellow countrymen to save the animal from extinction in this region.

I’m going to write a bit about Oleg and his work over the next few months. It would be great to get support for him to help him in this important quest.

For more information (this site in Russian only) here.

Some interesting facts about Kazakhstan.
** It is ranked the 9th largest country in the world.
**I t is the world’s largest landlocked country.
** It is larger than Western Europe.

Happy New Year of the snow leopard ('bar' in Russian)

I’ve received a lovely email from Oleg Loginov, Director of the Snow Leopard Fund Kazakhstan who tells me while the Chinese now celebrate Year of the Tiger, in Kazakhstan and other parts of Central Asia they are celebrating this as year of the Snow Leopard. Go Snow Leopards! By the way, in this part of the world snow leopards are called Bars!

It’s estimated there are between 100 – 200 snow leopards in Kazakhstan and Oleg’s SL Fund will do research and conservation and education work to help protect them. We hope it will be a wonderful year for snow leopard conservation and that many more people will learn to love and support this cat in the wild.