Collared Cats in Mongolia Are Having Successful Hunts

The cats have been on the prowl over the past two weeks, and appear to have had some successful hunting activity!

Aztai (green) has been feasting – and how! Just a day before he was collared in the last week of February, he had been feeding on three goats. Orjan confirmed this after making a quick visit to the cluster of locations we saw from the satellite uplinks, partly answering the question of Aztai’s ever-growing weight. Not one to wait for long, though, Aztai was on a cluster again from the 4th of March until the morning of the 7th, the time of our last uplink from his collar, at which time he appeared to have paused–he has likely found food again. Since his location is not far from our trap camp, Orjan can make a reconnaissance of the cluster area. We hope to learn more about this possible kill site and what the prey species is.

Shonkhor (red) appears to have been equally busy, with uplinks indicating a potential kill on the 28th of February. A cluster of six locations was uplinked to the satellite, though we didn’t receive anything from his collar between the 1st and 5th. The last two locations on the 6th show him 11 km west of this cluster, and after having had a good meal, he now appears to be on a long patrol towards the far edge of his home-range.

M7, the recently collared male snow leopard, spent about a week in the vicinity of the camp, after which he seems to have left with verve on a possible mission. He headed on a straight trajectory due NE and has covered approximately 27 km in just about 7 days. The last location points now depict M7 in an area that we last knew to be used by Itgel. It will be interesting to follow M7’s movements in the coming week to see if he returns to the region where he was collared, or if he continues this expedition. He appears to be young, and we would not be surprised if we see more of these long distance forays, something we have seen Shonkhor and Saikhan do routinely while establishing their respective territories. Following his movements, along with Shonkhor and Saikhan, will provide us further insight into snow leopard’s range use and dispersal patterns

We have not heard anything from the collars of Saikhan or Tsagaan, and our research team is now trying to intercept their VHF signals with hand-held telemetry units. They are also deploying additional photo-trap cameras in the areas these cats have been known to utilize. This will increase our chances of discovering their movements, and we’ll be able to replace their collars.