Ladakh, the starkly beautiful high mountain desert in India’s Jammu & Kashmir province, is one of the world’s best places to see wild snow leopards. It’s also one of our conservation focus areas. Our Communications Manager Matt Fiechter recently traveled to Ladakh to learn more about our ongoing community-based snow leopard conservation programs – and follow the tracks of the elusive Ghost Cat.
Mongolia’s Tost Mountains have recently been declared a State Nature Reserve, thanks to a remarkable effort by the local community. Now, it’s up to us all to help ensure that the area’s rich wildlife – including a stable snow leopard population, can thrive in this prime habitat.
Mongolia’s Parliament declares Tost a State Protected Area. The mountain range is home to a stable, breeding population of snow leopards.
When snow leopards and other predators manage to enter herder’s corrals, the results can be devastating – but with teamwork, building supplies, and a couple of days’ time, the problem can be fixed, and conflicts avoided.
Growing up in Mongolia’s Gobi desert, Tserennadmid (Nadia) Mijiddorj knew from a young age that she wanted to become a snow leopard conservationist. She’s made her dream come true, earning a Masters in biology and joining the Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation – the Mongolia partner of the Snow Leopard Trust – as a Conservation and Education Manager over a decade ago. Now, thanks to her second Sidney Byers Scholarship for Wildlife Conservation through the WCN Scholarship Program, this homegrown conservationist is ready to take the next step in her career.
A 1,500-square-kilometer area of Mongolia’s Gurvansaikhan Mountains is home to multiple snow leopards and young, according to a first glance at photographs from last spring’s research cameras.
What’s the most important rule for any conservationist working with rural communities to protect wildlife? To be present! In our program countries, we have dedicated field staff who spend weeks, and sometimes months, living with the communities we partner with; changing minds and hearts, and laying the groundwork for successful snow leopard conservation.
Our field coordinators in Spiti, India, talk about the impact of their work on the local community.
