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!
Amarsaikhan is a herder in the Tost Mountains of Mongolia. Everyone here calls him Amara. He has spent his entire life living alongside the elusive snow leopard – not seeing the cat very often, but feeling its presence much more frequently than he’d have cared for. Every year, snow leopards killed several of his horses and fawns—an expense he and his community could hardly withstand. Amara not only feared these cats – “to be honest, I think I hated them”, he says. On several occasions, he attempted to kill snow leopards that had come near his camp. Luckily, he never succeeded.
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.
Dear Snow Leopard Trust supporters, A few weeks ago, my friend and colleague Brad Rutherford announced that he would be stepping down as the Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust. I’ve worked with Brad and the Snow Leopard Trust for almost as long as he’s been with the organization. First, I served as the …
Press Release, March 3rd, 2016. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. A total of ten Kyrgyz wildlife rangers have received a Citizen Ranger Wildlife Award for their courage in the fight against illegal hunting in the country’s snow leopard habitat in 2015. They were publicly honored in a ceremony in Bishkek today, on World Wildlife Day.
Over the course of the year, we have experienced excitement, triumph, tragedy and hope in our fight for the future of the snow leopard Through all of it, your incredible support has remained the rock-solid foundation that our work is built upon.
Reducing the losses suffered by farmers due to predation on livestock by snow leopards is a key to protecting the endangered cat. New research now shows that small changes in the way livestock are herded could make a big difference.
A team of researchers from our Chinese partner organization, Shan Shui, found signs of snow leopard presence in Sichuan’s Ganzi Prefecture, an area that had last been surveyed 8 years ago. However, densities appear to be lower than elsewhere in China.
Find your favorite cats in your favorite social media channel! Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, we have amazing snow leopard photos and conservation news for you to like, share, retweet and embed – so please join our community!
2015 has been dubbed the “Year of the Snow Leopard” by the 12 range countries. For the Snow Leopard Trust, it will be a year full of exciting challenges – and thanks to your outstanding support in 2014, we’re hitting the ground rolling!
