Tajikistan

How many snow leopards survive in Tajikistan?

The most recent report available (2003) suggested Tajikistan had a snow leopard population of between 180 and 220 cats. However since this data was collected it is likely that numbers have decreased with all the economic turmoil suffered by the Tajik people.

Tajikistan is a mountainous country in Central Asia with borders to Afghanistan in the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kygyzstan to the north and China to the east. Mountains cover over 90% of this country.

Mountains of Tajikistan, home to decreasing population of endangered snow leopards.

Tajikistan became a republic of the Soviet Union known as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in 1929. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1900 and after its independence, Tajikistan suffered a devastating civil war from 1992 to 1997. Since the end of the war, with political stability and foreign aid the country’s economy has grown, although World Bank figures suggest that in 2005 more than half of the population was living below the poverty line on less than $2.15 a day.

With such extreme poverty it is not surprising that illegal hunting for meat and trophies is depleting snow leopard prey populations. Livestock grazing also destroys the grasslands, and overgrazing decreases the food supply for the wild sheep and goats that are the snow leopard’s main prey.

In the last decade more villagers and herders have pushed into mountainous areas with their livestock and as a result, the snow leopard’s habitat has degraded and fragmented. As in other range countries there is also conflict with local people, when snow leopards  kill domestic livestock when their natural prey is scarce.

Flora and Fauna International, is a conservation NGO working to save what remains of the country’s rich natural heritage including Zorkul lake Zapovednik and the surrounding Pamir Mountains. The Pamirs, known as the ‘Roof of the World’, are one of the key mountain ranges of Central Asia and are home to Tajikistan’s significant snow leopard population.  FFI is working to bring together local communities, hunting agencies, the state conservation sector and the military on the Tajik side of the Pamir mountain range in a program to help conserve wildlife.

Dr Rodney Jackson with trainees in the Tajikistan snow leopard conservation project. Photo SLC.

The Snow Leopard Conservancy’s (SLC) Rodney Jackson conducted a visit to Tajikistan in 2003, examining approaches for promoting wildlife conservation and community-based monitoring in the eastern Pamir mountains. He trained local staff and herders in basic survey methods for monitoring snow leopard and Marco Polo sheep. Since then the SLC with continued funding from The Christensen Fund, has implemented a number of community-driven activities to foster the stewardship of biological diversity and wildlife conservation in tandem with the development of sustainable livelihoods for local people.