The snow leopard is under threat of extinction. But a local grassroots organization in Mongolia is showing a possible path toward the future for this endangered cat.

The snow leopard is under threat of extinction. But a local grassroots organization in Mongolia is showing a possible path toward the future for this endangered cat.
Örjan Johansson’s groundbreaking work on the snow leopard’s biology and behavior has led to novel insights into the spatial needs, predation patterns, and reproduction cycle of this elusive cat. Now, after 8 years of field work, collaring 23 individual snow leopards and spending more than 1,000 nights in the Gobi Desert, this pioneering scientist has received his PhD from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
We’re all about the snow leopard, but that doesn’t mean we can’t occasionally celebrate other felines as well… especially if they pose for pictures for us, like these rare Pallas’s Cats in Mongolia’s Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park.
Some of the best conservationists are found among the rural communities who live side by side with the world’s endangered species. Davaa, a Mongolian herder, is such a local champion. Selected by his neighbors and friends as a community ranger, he now helps encourage sustainable practices and fosters tolerance among the community for the elusive snow leopard.
GPS collars will allow Snow Leopard Trust researchers to better understand the elusive species.
A recent outbreak of PPR, a viral disease common among ruminants, has killed nearly a quarter of Mongolia’s population of saiga, an endangered antelope species. The disease has the potential to spread to key snow leopard prey species in the area as well.
Tsetsen, a male snow leopard wearing a GSP collar in Mongolia’s Tost Mountains as part of the Snow Leopard Trust’s long-term study of these cats, has gone offline as scheduled. The batteries on Tsetsen’s collar appear to have run out. The collar itself will drop off the cat in the next weeks.
The saga of Anu continues. This snow leopard mother living in Mongolia’s Tost mountains not only keeps surprising us – she also provides a powerful example of nature’s perseverance!
The Snow Leopard Trust makes it a priority to help train the next generation of conservation leaders in snow leopard range countries. Mongolian student Tengis is one such potential future conservationist. He’s also an ardent soccer fan, which is reflected in the names he chose for ‘his’ snow leopards.
Meet Garav, the Mongolian Wildlife Ranger whose leadership helped shape ‘her’ National Park into one of her country’s finest and most effective conservation areas.