The Snow Leopard Information Management System (SLIMS) is a set of standardized research techniques for studying wild snow leopards, their habitat, and their prey. SLIMS helps snow leopard researchers around the world share their knowledge and compare the results of studies conducted in different areas.

SLIMS was developed in the late 1980s by the Snow Leopard Trust's first Conservation Director, Rodney Jackson, in close collaboration with Don Hunter of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Trust Founder Helen Freeman.  Today, almost all researchers studying wild snow leopards collect their data and design their studies according to SLIMS methods, a situation that may be unique in the world of wildlife biology.  

Quick Links:

• How does SLIMS work?

• What questions about snow leopards can scientists answer with SLIMS?

• How can the knowledge from SLIMS help save snow leopards?

• What have scientists learned so far from SLIMS?

• What are the next steps in SLIMS research?

• Who is working on SLIMS?

How does SLIMS work?

Wild snow leopards are very rarely seen and almost impossible to count directly.  Fortunately for scientists, however, the cats leave ample evidence of their presence--footprints, scrapes, feces, scent-sprays, and claw-rakes--as they move through the landscape. This evidence, known as snow leopard sign, helps the solitary cats communicate with each other and stay out of each other's way, thus avoiding potentially aggressive confrontations.  

Analyzing snow leopard sign is an important part of SLIMS methodology.  First, researchers identify areas that are known or likely to have snow leopards present.  Then they walk along probable snow leopard travel routes--such as at the bases of cliffs, along the peaks of ridgelines, and along rivers--and count the number of sign they see.  Roughly speaking, more sign indicates more snow leopards.  

SLIMS also includes methods for surveying the herds of wild sheep and goats that are the snow leopard's primary prey.  From well concealed vantage points at the top of a hill or other place with a good view, researchers count the herds as they graze or rest on the mountain slopes, recording the species, group size, as well as the age-class and sex of each individual.

What questions about snow leopards can scientists answer with SLIMS?

Snow leopard sign surveys indicate the relative abundance of the cats in an area--not the exact number, but how common snow leopards are there compared to other areas.  If sign surveys are conducted over several years in the same place and season, scientists can also estimate whether the snow leopard population in the area is increasing or decreasing.

More precise details can be gathered from the surveys of wild sheep and goats, because these animals can be counted directly.  As with the snow leopard surveys, if prey surveys are done over several years in the same area and season, scientists can determine how the herd sizes are changing over time.

Snow Leopard Trust researchers are also exploring the possibility of using these surveys of wild sheep and goats to estimate snow leopard numbers, through a technique called predator-prey modeling.  The number of snow leopards that can live in an area depends on the abundance of prey available to feed them.  Therefore, scientists can collect data on prey populations and use statistical calculations to determine the likely number of snow leopards in the area.  Predator-prey modeling has been used successfully to estimate populations of other cat species including tigers, common leopards, lions, and cheetahs.

How can the knowledge from SLIMS help save snow leopards?

Knowing what areas are good for snow leopards and whether the population is increasing or decreasing in a given area helps the Snow Leopard Trust and others design and evaluate conservation programs.  

For example, conservation programs might be focused in an area where there is a relatively high concentration of snow leopards, or where the snow leopard population has recently begun to decline.  An increase in the snow leopard population in the area after a conservation program is started would be an important indication that the program is a success.

Information about the health of wild prey herds in the area might also help determine what kind of conservation program to put in place.  For example, if the herds are not very abundant but the habitat is otherwise good for snow leopards, a conservation program might focus on increasing the wild sheep and goat populations so that snow leopards can survive without preying on domestic livestock.  Again, an increase in the size or productivity of the wild herds after a conservation program is started would be an indication of success.

What have scientists learned so far from SLIMS?

Since the methodology was developed in the late 1980s, scientists, park rangers, and others in snow leopard countries and around the world have learned and applied the SLIMS techniques.  They have collected 10 years' worth of SLIMS survey data, including data from every snow leopard country.  

SLIMS data have enabled scientists compare the relative abundance of snow leopards in different areas, and identify some high-density snow leopard areas.

The data have also been used extensively in conservation planning, especially in Mongolia.  There, at least two protected areas have been established for snow leopards based almost entirely on the results of SLIMS surveys.

Finally, SLIMS surveys are being used to monitor the effectiveness of conservation programs throughout the cat's range, tracking changes in snow leopard and prey populations.

What are the next steps in SLIMS research?

The Snow Leopard Trust has recently refined and simplified SLIMS techniques based on feedback from users.  The system has become less technical, easier to learn, and easier to carry out with minimal resources while still answering critical research questions.

A long-term goal is to create a centralized, online database for all SLIMS data that could be accessed by researchers anywhere in the world and make information sharing even easier. Today, country-specific databases are maintained in many snow leopard range countries where SLIMS has been taught and is routinely carried out.

Another task is to re-examine some of the assumptions behind SLIMS methodology, especially the assumption that more snow leopard sign indicates more snow leopards.  This assumption is probably true in a given area and a given season, but researchers want to find out how to compare sign surveys in different areas of the cats' range, in different climate and weather conditions, and at different times of year.

Finally, developing a reliable, inexpensive method for estimating snow leopard population size is one of the key needs identified in Snow Leopard Survival Strategy. Therefore, during the summer and fall of 2005 the Snow Leopard Trust is supporting and helping to carry out research comparing the accuracy of SLIMS sign surveys with the results of other types of studies: genetics, trap cameras, and predator-prey modeling.  The research will take place at two sites in the Kyrgyz Republic and a third site in western China.  The Trust funded research in India in 2004 that compared trap-camera results, SLIMS surveys, and identification of individual leopards through pug mark analyses.  The results of that study, combined with the current work in China and Kyrgyzstan, will help refine techniques to estimate snow leopard numbers.

Researchers expect that genetic and trap-camera studies will provide the most accurate measures of the number of snow leopards, but those methods also require a lot of time and a lot of expensive equipment.  Therefore, researchers hope to find out how to correct other, more widely practical methods such as SLIMS sign surveys and perhaps predator-prey modeling to yield accurate estimates of snow leopard abundance.

Who is working on SLIMS?

SLIMS studies have been carried out by Snow Leopard Trust staff, park rangers, government wildlife agencies, students, Peace Corps volunteers, international researchers, and a broad range of local and international conservation organizations in all 12 snow leopard range countries.