GPS collars will allow Snow Leopard Trust researchers to better understand the elusive species.
Category: Field Work
Protect Corrals, Protect Cats
When snow leopards attack livestock, conflicts with local communities are usually inevitable – and they don’t often end well for the cats! But many of these attacks can be prevented with a simple solution – predator-proof corrals and holding pens for sheep and goats!
Where There’s a Bear, There’s a Big Cat
PhD student Liu Mingyu is studying interactions between free-ranging dogs and native wildlife in China’s Qinghai province. During his work, he captured an extraordinary video of three wild snow leopards enjoying the afternoon sun. This is his story!
Back in the (Motorbike) Saddle
Field scientist Örjan Johansson is back in the South Gobi, the site of our long-term snow leopard study. Together with his colleague Gustaf Samelius, he’s attempting to collar snow leopards and ibex this spring to allow us to track their movements. This is his field diary.
Poachers Identified Thanks to Camera Trap
Our Kyrgyz partner community of Enilchek lost a conservation bonus they would have been due for 2015 because a young man from the village was seen on a camera trap photo guiding poachers into nearby the locally protected area. Now, the young man’s family has agreed to compensate their fellow community members for the lost bonus payment – and our team has started installing camera traps to catch more poachers in the act.
PPR outbreak in Mongolia a threat to snow leopards
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.
A Glimpse of Angsai’s Snow Leopards
Our Regional Ecologist, Justine Shanti Alexander, had her first live snow leopard encounter on China’s Tibetan Plateau last month. She shares the unforgettable experience (and the video the team took) with us in this blog post.
Sharing Spots: Snow Leopard and Common Leopard Filmed in Same Location
Research cameras set up by local citizen-scientists near the source of the Mekong river have captured images of snow leopards and common leopards using the same habitat – it’s the first time these two cat species have been photographed in the same location.
Back in the Shadows: Collared Snow Leopard Tsetsen Goes Offline
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.
Video: A New Year’s Snow Leopard Encounter
Our team in India’s Spiti Valley was treated to an extraordinary sighting of the elusive Ghost of the Mountain on a recent field visit. For Research Associate Ajay Bijoor, it was the first encounter with the cat he’s dedicated his life and career to. Read his account of an unforgettable day – and watch the amazing video footage the team managed to capture!