Snow leopard captured by remote camera trap in Nanda Devi National Park. (Photo Wildlife Institute of India.)

Remote camera trapping has been used by snow leopard researchers now for many years. How it works is, a researcher will set up a camera in a hidden area, perhaps behind boulders and rocks and when a snow leopard walks past, the movement triggers automatic taking of photos.

The camera of course cannot tell the difference between human movement and animal movement and therefore automatically snaps anyone and anything. Hence this good news story about how remote camera traps are now helping snow leopards in a different way.

The Nanda Devi National Park is a national park situated around the peak of Mount Nanda Devi, which is 7,816 metres high in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India. It is part of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, which includes Nanda Devi National Park and the Valley of Flowers National Park, and it was was declared as biosphere reserve under the Unesco’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) programme in 2004.

In March this year authorities of the Nanda Devi National Park were delighted to see three snow leopards on a picture captured by one of their cameras installed inside the park. The park authorities are limiting the amount of information and photos they make public in order to safe guard the location of the snow leopards.

Reconyx remote camera trap and reader. (Photo by Sibylle Noras.)

It was the single biggest sighting of snow leopards in the park but now news is emerging that the same camera traps are helping to keep poachers out of the area.

Director of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Mr S Raisaily said that as well as monitoring wildlife, the over 60 camera traps they have installed are proving to be a major deterrent to poachers. Last year 26 alleged poachers were caught on film and subsequently arrested. Word has also spread to potential poachers in the region that they will be caught on camera.

“This is proving to be a big discouraging factor as people with anti-wildlife mindset now understand the consequences after getting caught on cameras and we regularly monitor all the images on the cameras,” he said.

This photo shows how remote camera trap are hidden. Both snow leopards and poachers have difficulty in seeing them. (Photo Snow Leopard Conservancy.)

An unexpected outcome from the research which we hope will help snow leopards in this park survive.

Organisations involved in the Nanda Devi snow leopard project include the Wildlife Institute of India. The work is part of  ‘Project Snow Leopard’ being implemented by Ministry of Environment ancd Forests (MoEF), Government of India.

Otgon Tenger uul, the highest mountain in Mongolia stands at over 3900 metres. (Photo Wikipedia Commons).

Wide open landscapes, remote wide steppes and craggy magical mountains are home to snow leopards in Mongolia.

Katey Duffey has an M.A. in Zoology from Miami University and her research interests are in carnivore ecology and mitigating human-carnivore conflicts.

This article is about her work in Otgontenger Strictly Protected Area (SPA), Zavkhan province of Western Mongolia, in the Khangai Mountains. The area encompasses 1,000 square kilometres and is best known for the country’s most sacred mountain, Otgon Tenger Uul. The mountain is the only peak in the Khangai range that is capped with a permanent glacier and since the introduction of Buddhism, traditional Mongolian beliefs surround the deities that inhabit this and other of Mongolia’s mountains.

Kate Duffy, researches snow leopards and human conflict in Mongolia. (c) Kate Duffy.

Mongolia has the second largest snow leopard population of all range countries after China. It is estimated there may be around 700-1300 snow leopards in the country. The species is threatened by retaliation killing by herders who have lost livestock to the cat, as well as habitat loss and in some areas, mining development.

Kate’s partners in this work are the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Irbis (snow leopard) Mongolia Centre, Snow Leopard Conservancy and senior biologist, Dr. Bariushaa Munkhtsog.

She reports on the first ever data collected in Otgontenger and surrounding areas from mid-June-mid-July of 2014.

The team gathered data including scat samples, recording scratch marks and location of urine spray as well as photographs from remote camera traps.

They also interviewed local herders on livestock losses and their attitudes towards  snow leopards when they threaten their precious sheep and goats. Surprisingly Kate says, many herders admitted, “The snow leopards have just as much right to the land as the people. It is the people’s responsibility to take better care of their animals.”

It’s so wonderful to hear people say things like this, when often they are suffering economically due to a snow leopard’s prey on their animals.

You can read this fascinating article – Understanding a Culture to Protect an Iconic Predator in Zoomorphic Magazine, May 2015.

Disneynature films has released the first teaser trailer for the “Born in China” documentary which will make its global debut in 2016.

The film follows the adventures of three animal families — the majestic panda, the golden monkey and our beautiful elusive snow leopard.

China has the largest population of snow leopards of any range country but the species there has never featured in a nature documentary. It will be wonderful for audiences everywhere, including inside China, to see learn more about endangered snow leopards, how they live and survive and the threats facing them.

The Disneynature films also aim to “give back” to their stars, that is, they support conservation programs for the wildlife they feature via money raised through ticket sales. Through these films Disney Conservation Fund has planted 3 million trees, protected coral reef, migratory corridors in Kenya and chimpanzee habitat in the Congo.

Snow leopard supporters and conservationists everywhere will eagerly await this film in 2016.

Recently INTERPOL, along with the Snow Leopard Trust, the Snow Leopard Foundation Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyz government agencies, made an exciting announcement about their partnership on a snow leopard protection initiative in that country.

INTERPOL is the International Criminal Police Organisation, an intergovernmental organisation facilitating international police cooperation. One of INTERPOL’s objectives is to fight environmental crime, that is, illegal acts which harm the environment. INTERPOL aims to share information and illegal trade intelligence and increase cross border collaboration through their Wildlife Crime Working Group.

Illegal snow leopard pelt. Photo WWF-UAE.

Unfortunately snow leopard poaching and smuggling of body parts is still happening throughout most range countries. All such poaching and smuggling activity is illegal but demand for snow leopard products still exists. In the past demand for body parts came from the medicine industry but now conservationists say demand is “fuelled by wealth, not health” by which they mean wealthy citizens wanting skins as ready-made rugs and taxidermy specimens, as status symbols. Rising affluence and increasing disposable incomes in consumer countries is now the major driver of snow leopard poaching. Studies in last few years have shown that snow leopard parts are traded in the wealthy coastal cities of China.

While the program just launched doesn’t cover China we hope it will help Kyrgyzstan’s snow leopards and the snow leopards of its neighbouring countries. Known as Citizen-Ranger Wildlife Protection Program (CRWPP), it will train, publicly honour, and financially reward park rangers and local community members who successfully apprehend illegal hunters.

Two poachers with snow leopard pelts arrested in Nepal in 2011. Photo Kathmandu Post

The Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) has been working in Kyrgyzstan since 2002 focusing on community-based conservation, and more recently, with the Kyrgyz President for catalysing range-wide governmental action for snow leopard conservation. The SLT’s program in Kyrgyzstan, Snow Leopard Enterprises, has helped with the problem of hunting of snow leopards and wild sheep and goats by local community members. However, for many years, community members and rangers have expressed frustration at preventing poaching by outsiders.
“Our existing community-based conservation programs are not as effective against this outside threat,” says Brad Rutherford, Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust.

INTERPOL’s role will be to train rangers on investigative skills and standard enforcement techniques over a period of three years as part of their Project Predator. This project is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Project Predator has been actively participating in international snow leopard conservation efforts for several years, including the drafting of the Law Enforcement Component in the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP), 2013.

One of the first photos of wild snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan from the Snow Leopard Trust’s remote camera’s helping with their conservation programs. Photo Snow Leopard Trust.

We congratulate the Snow Leopard Trust and partners in Kyrgyzstan on setting up this program which will help the endangered snow leopard population in their mountains.

We also hope that this type of training and INTERPOL’s involvement can be replicated in other snow leopard countries, including China, where demand for body parts appears to be high.

However much also needs to be done in non snow leopard range countries as the largest markets for illegal wildlife products are believed to be, in order, China, then the European Union and the USA. (IFAW Report 2013).

Welcome to resources and news on how local communities and conservationists are saving the endangered snow leopard and protecting its Central Asian mountain habitat.

Keen to help save endangered snow leopards?  Get involved here.

It sounds logical. An increase in wild prey (that is food) leads to an increase in snow leopards. When the cats have enough to eat they will thrive. A report from Panthera’s Tanya Rosen on snow leopard conservation activities in More on the snow leopards of Tajikistan, shows how this simple fact is evident in the small Central Asia Country.

Rare video of Snow Leopard in Alichur, Tajikistan from Tanya Rosen Michel on Vimeo.

Tanya writes – “Burgut is one of the conservancies supported by Panthera in Tajikistan. It is located in the Alichur range, in the eastern Pamirs. Mahan Atabaev, the leader of the conservancy and rangers have to date successfully led the recovery of argali sheep, a key snow leopard prey, in this area. In 2012 when the conservancy was established we counted 106 argali, In December 2014 we counted 251 of them. As the numbers of argali are rising so are those of snow leopards.

In 2014 we identified at least 3 different snow leopards. Meanwhile we have also predator-proofed 6 corrals in this area (thanks to the support from the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative) to eliminate farmer-snow leopard conflicts. While many challenges remain, anti-poaching and conflict-mitigation efforts are beginning to pay off.”

See more from Panthera, a US based NGO working to save the big cats in the wild.

This photo of the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Nepal shows the devastation. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha).

Our thoughts are with the people of Nepal at this sad time of the devastating earthquake.

So much destruction in both the capital Kathmandu and in the outer regions and villages mean suffering and loss will continue for the whole country for a long time.

Stories of loss of life and destruction of property are also emerging from the areas of snow leopard habitat like Jomsom in Lower Mustang.

Many young people from the area of Jomson will have been affected by the devastating recent earthquake in Nepal. Here a group of Snow Leopard Scouts taking part in training in Jomson before the earthquake. (Photo Snow Leopard Conservancy.)
We hope readers and supporters of this Blog can help with donations over the coming months as the resilient people of Nepal struggle to rebuild their lives and country.

Our friend and colleague Dr Som Ale from the Snow Leopard Conservancy reports that some schools which take part in the Snow Leopard Scouts Program have been destroyed and  “the livelihood will continue being impacted because stored grains, cereals, crops are destroyed and livestock killed. ”

To our dear readers and supporters of “Saving Snow Leopards” blog, we encourage those who are able to make donations for the recovery of this nation. Every small donation helps and donating over a period of time, even months is important where destruction and loss of life is so extensive.

A heartfelt Thank-you to you all.

First ever seen snow leopard in new National park in Russia. Photo by Saylyugem National Park

Researchers recently announced that snow leopards have been found in the Saylyugem National park, which was created five years ago to protect wildlife in the Altai mountains of Siberia.

The photos were taken by remote camera traps and are the very first to show that the snow leopard is calling this national park home.

This is particularly heartening news at a time when Russia’s snow leopards appear to be in decline due to poaching and habitat loss.

‘Our scientific research began in February and in less than a month we got the first photos,’ said Aleksei Kuzhlekov, a local researcher. ‘The snow leopard was spotted four times, at different times. It is difficult to say though how many were caught by cameras, whether it was one or two.’

The Saylyugem National Park was created five years ago to protect endangered wildlife. It was not known that snow leopard inhabited the area. Photo by Saylyugem NP.

Another senior researcher, Sergey Spitsyn, said the videos and images could be of three or four different leopards. ‘Two of them were in footage and they have different patterns on their tails. The others were captured on the photo cameras, but it’s hard to tell if there are any different patterns because of low quality of the photos.’

The National park was created five years ago to protect wildlife such as the argali  mountain sheep and the area now totals 118,380 hectares. It was not known that snow leopards were in the area but now that argali are protected they will attrack snow leopards for whom they are a major prey source. The protection of the National Park was seen as important to protect both argali and snow leopards. Unfortunately  poachers had killed more than 10 snow leopards in the area during the 1990s and their furs and body parts would have been sold on the black market for Chinese medicine.

The remote beauty of one of Russia’s most recent national parks which has now been found to have snow leopards. Photo Saylyugem National Park.

The head of the local conservation department, Igor Ivanitsky, adds: “We were able to place the cameras in the right place by painstakingly working out the movements routes of the cats.

“Being then so successful with our camera trapping efforts tells us that the park is their main home and hunting ground.

“Park staff have also found snow leopard tracks and scats (droppings) in several places around the national park, giving further evidence that the big cats are thriving in their newly created refuge.”

The park’s researcher, Alexei Kuzhlekov, said, “The research project was launched in February 2015. We used standard methods for studying snow leopards. After completing our research, we installed camera traps along presumed snow leopard migration routes. It took us less than a month to photograph the first snow leopards. We took four photos of a snow leopard at different times. So far, it’s hard to say whether we have taken photos of one or two snow leopards.”

Saylyugem National Park has conditions faboured by snow leopards. The cats may thrive now that the national park offers them protection from poachers who have killed at least 10 snow leopards in the last 20 years. Photo Saylyugem National Park.

Dr. Matthias Hammer, Executive Director of Biosphere Expeditions, which assisted in the creation of the new National Park says he is delighted with the news.

“We spent ten years working in the Altai, researching snow leopard presence, building local capacity and trying to create economic incentives for local people to keep their snow leopard neighbours alive.

“When we started, there was no national park, little awareness, research or infrastructure, and rampant poaching.

Now the park’s researchers, scientists and colleagues from the Altai Reserve will work on visual comparisons of the snow leopards in the photos with those listed in the their database to establish the exact number of cats and identify individuals. We wish them all the best for their work with this snow leopard group and may the snow leopard population here be safe and grow.

The 15th snow leopard collared through the Panthera-SLT study in Mongolia. October 2012 Photo Panthera / SLT K. Suryawanshi.

The Snow Leopard Trust has great news this week with the announcement that they have captured and collared their 20th wild snow leopard in Mongolia’s Tost Mountains, the area of their 10 year long term study.

This ground breaking study, which began in 2008,  is collecting the most detailed information on the life, habitats and movements of wild snow leopards ever conducted.

The latest cat, a male, has been fitted with a GPS collar, which will now allow researchers to follow the animal and gather vital information over the coming months. “The cat weighed 44.3 kg [just under 100 lbs.] and we think he is 4-5 years old”, field scientist Örjan Johansson reported.

This information will enable the Trust and others to develop long term strategies to help more snow leopards survive in the wild.