It has been at least a decade since Snow Leopard Trust has conducted research on snow leopard populations in the area, so, despite all the preparatory work and research-based assumptions, our field team was not sure that our new cameras would find a snow leopard in the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area. The reserve, one of the largest in the world, certainly may not seem to be brimming with life upon first observation, and we knew the area to be low-occupancy at best for snow leopards based on recent surveys. But we remained hopeful nonetheless and were excited to add this new location to the PAWS initiative.
This extremely arid desert receives little rain and yearly temperatures can range from 40°C in summer to -40°C in winter. The steppe landscape you can see from these photos goes on, seemingly unending, for hundreds of miles, yet despite these harsh conditions, life clings on.
In fact, some of the most vulnerable species of mammals on earth occupy this desert, hence its protected status. While pouring through the camera rolls from this region, the snow leopard seemed to elude us. But we were delighted with what we did see.
A herd of Mongolian khulan (or if you prefer, wild ass) grazed alongside one of the camera traps at night. They have seen their historic range shrink dramatically in recent years and are now only found in the Gobi. Some curious hares, hedgehogs, and stone martens scurried by the cameras as well.
As we painstakingly clicked through the photos, one by one, no snow leopard had yet revealed itself, though the critically endangered Gobi bear did make a few appearances. We counted at least five distinct sightings of the bear over the course of a few months, which renewed our hope.
Park rangers have been monitoring the bear populations at watering holes for years, but this method is not as useful at estimating snow leopard populations, The Gobi bear has also seen its range nearly disappear, and as few as 50 individuals live solely in this reserve. So this next image was especially exciting, as we can confirm at least one more bear was born this past year.
We continued pouring through the images, hoping to be as surprised as this fox if and when we would be fortunate enough to discover a snow leopard in this remotest of regions.
Lynxes, wolves, ibexes, and argali; with just a few cameras we have captured a full range of life in this desert. Greeted by all these big and small mammals, herbivores, and carnivores, it would be hard to be disappointed with what we had seen. One of our cameras even captured a photo of the Bactrian camel, yet another mammal on the verge of extinction that lives exclusively in this desert.
And so, after hours of searching through thousands of photos, many just of grass and rock, it seemed our favorite cat might have eluded our camera traps during this survey, despite evidence of their presence. It is important to note that absence of evidence is not always an evidence of absence, which is why we rely on sophisticated statistical tools to estimate how many individual snow leopards may have eluded the cameras during a particular survey. That said, sometimes there are just too few in an area to get photographed at all.
But upon a second inspection, our efforts were vindicated! Among the final 20 images on the last camera roll, was a snow leopard.
In terms of quality, it’s certainly not the best snow leopard photo we have ever shared, but it is a special one. Here is evidence in black and white, that in the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area, another snow leopard stalks the crags and rocks of this awe-inspiring land, and in the company of several other threatened species.
Great people like you are so necessary, thank you so much for caring
Amazing! Thank you for all that you do!!
Wow an achievement! Worth the wait and reward for showing patience
Hello,To everyone involved,ye are doing a great job,it lovely to view these animals in their own habitat.My great uncle,Frank Hurley,who was a photographer on the ship ENDURANCE,that went to the Antartic in 1914,spent a lot of time in Mongolia. Michael Hennessy.
Beautiful photographs. Thanks for sharing them.
I thoroughly enjoyed the photos of the range of animals that inhabit the Gobi region. Please, continue to share the spectrum of wildlife in your snow leopard updates.
I love these photos – the animals are beautiful – I really didn’t expect to see a bear in the Gobi. The land looks harsh – would it be possible to plant drought-resistant grasses, bushes, herbs, or wildflowers that any of these animals might eat? I read somewhere that when grasses are planted, they tend to bring water springs to the surface (not sure if this is true).
Thank you for leaving that comment!
I was beginning to wonder, myself, about the fragility of such an ecosystem, such as the Gobi(desert?)
What a Wonderfull idea of yours, to introduce more flora and fauna!
Good photo’s. The Lynx shot puts me there. Nice work.
In 1998 my husband Tom and I went on a small group (5,I think) trip to this part of Mongolia.Tom McCarthy was the field biologist and there was a young student,Pugii who was working on the project. I’m delighted to recognise her and to learn she is now the Research Manager. I remember we found an unfortunately dead radio-collared snow leopard who Tom identified as a fairly old female who had died of natural causes. This was the best ‘holiday’ I’ve ever been on,a wonderful country where we met such lovely people that I’ll never forget.
Wow! An amazing set of images! All so precious, especially the one of the cub. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you John. Really interesting and good to see.
Thanks for these pictures – fascinating – and glad you spotted a snow leopard.
Wow, great
You are doing a great job. Thanks for sharing the pictures and the story. Nice to see the animals living in the area and of course it was absolutely amazing that you also got a picture of the ghost of the mountains – love them!
What a lovely article, great photos and fantastic to see a snow leopard. Well done to the team