Given their adaptations to life in cold conditions, we expect snow leopards to be able to weather these conditions over the short term. However, their prey populations are likely to be affected because their forage plants are blanketed by snow and ice.
Many of you have reached out regarding these extreme winter conditions, also known as a dzud. Our Mongolia team has connected with our partner communities and determined that their livestock losses are significant. Our initial response was to offer support by provisioning hay for their remaining livestock to survive the dzud period. However, the Mongolian government has helped the communities considerably by providing livestock feed, and we applaud this timely action. With immediate needs taken care of, our team is now discussing with our community partners how we can help enhance their resilience against such climate shocks in the future. We hope to begin implementing a comprehensive strategy by early next year.
Our existing conservation-linked livelihood programs are largely ecosystem-based and founded on the sustainable use of those ecosystem services. They involve diversification of income, which allows the risk to livelihoods to be spread across multiple sources. This strategy is expected to help improve the resilience of vulnerable communities as the intensity and frequency of extreme climatic events and other threats increase. Our annual monitoring of snow leopard prey, including ibex and argali, will help us understand the extent to which wild prey have been affected by the dzud. We will provide an update as we make progress. We’re grateful for your concern and unwavering support.
Photo credit: D. Otgonbaatar
Very Beautiful Cats. Thank you so much for taking care of them.
Those cats are so beautiful. God bless you for protecting them.
We must protect the Snow Leopards! Can we offer the families money for lost animals the Snow Leopards might have taken? And get the animals replaced? To keep peace.