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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Enjoy a selection of the most stunning snow leopard pictures captured by the Snow Leopard Trust’s camera traps in 2016.
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!
18 years ago, we established our first grazing-free village reserve for wild snow leopard prey in partnership with the community of Kibber, India. Today, the area’s population of bharal, a wild sheep that’s among the snow leopard’s preferred prey species, is about four times higher than it was before the reserve was set up. Nine more of these reserves have since been started elsewhere in India. It’s been an important conservation initiative, but also an educational experience.
Herders, farmers and wildlife rangers living in Asia’s mountainous snow leopard habitat are our most important partners in the fight against poaching and killing of these endangered cats.
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.
