A snow leopard cub that fell off a steep cliff in private nature park in Tajikistan. Photo S. Michel.

A sad news story from Tajikistan reminds us of the dangers snow leopards face from their harsh habitat. Stefan Michel, from the Nature Protection Team in Tajikistan, found a dead snow leopard cub in a private conservancy park  near the border of Afghanistan.  The cub had fallen to its death. Michel noted that a markhor, (wild snow leopard prey) had also fallen to its death nearby.

When we see pictures of snow leopards, wild sheep and wild goats running up and down the incredibly steep cliffs of these mountains we marvel at their amazing agility. But sometimes the cliffs are just too steep and in this case the young cub had not yet learned how to negotiate them safely.

Steep cliffs in Tajikistan where the snow leopard cub fell and died. Photo S. Michel.

However the good news from this area is that snow leopards seem to be flourishing due to good prey stock and protection from humans in this private conservancy.

Panthera's Dr Tom McCarthy meeting local people in Tajikistan. Photo Panthera.

I wrote recently about meeting Dr Tom McCarthy, Panthera’s Snow Leopard Program Director in Seattle. Tom had only been home a short while since returning from a one month trip to two snow leopard habitat areas, India and in Tajikistan. In both countries he researched snow leopard populations and spent time building Panthera’s partnerships with local conservation organisations and communities. He documented his travels in a series of beautiful videos, “Trekking with Tom” which you can see on the Panther website.

I especially liked this one, where Tom is interviewing an older hunter who talks about not killing snow leopard despite the fact that one had gotten to his livestock herd and killed 150 of them 45 years ago. It shows a remarkably tolerant attitude towards an animal that threatened the old hunter’s livelihood, but also hope that people and snow leopards can survive together.

Dr. Tom McCarthy Interviews Villager in Tajikistan from Panthera Cats on Vimeo.

See more photos of Tom’s travels in Tajikistan.

Where is Tajikistan?

Children in Tajikistan, Central Asia. A small country with endangered snow leopard population. Photo FFI.

Many snow leopard range countries are not well known by most of us and Tajikistan is no exception. I knew nothing about it before I became interested in snow leopards, but yes, they do have some. How many is not exactly known. So today I’ve added a page of information on snow leopard conservation projects in that small landlocked mountainous country in Central Asia. Check it out here.