On July 5, 2009, we placed a GPS radio collar on a snow leopard nicknamed Itgel (which means “Hope” in Mongolian). Itgel suffered a serious leg injury from a wolf trap set by a herder and we collared him in order to monitor his recovery from, or loss to, his injuries. For nearly two months, Itgel seemed to defy the odds and we watched him move across his mountain home through the periodic locations we received from his radio collar. Then, at the end of September, Itgel’s collar stopped moving. We thought he might have finally succumbed to his injuries or managed to push his collar over his head, so we sent a team in to investigate. In October our team found the collar, and noticed that the nuts fastening it closed were not there. However, Itgel himself was nowhere to be seen at the time the collar was found. Now, one of our researchers has reported seeing a snow leopard with an injured right rear leg chasing a herd of ibex in the area where Itgel had been living. Since the sighting was so brief, we cannot confirm whether the cat he saw was indeed Itgel or another snow leopard with a similar leg injury. But at this point we are guardedly optimistic that Itgel may still be alive. We will continue to investigate his mysterious disappearance and post updates as we receive them. Itgel’s entire history can be found in Follow the Cats.
I do hope he survives.
This is great news. I hope it is Itgel! I also hope his leg doesn’t slow him down so that he can’t catch the Ibex or other prey!
So do I. All of our species are so precious. We can’t afford to lose any of them.
I hope that he does make it too…I really do have to disagree
with the use of the neck collars for tracking,,,,they are just TOO BIG!
If one death of a snow leopard is attributed to these collars, it is one
TOO many….I can’t believe that with the technology we already have,
like putting a GPS chip in a kid’s shoe, that we can’t make a microchip
that a satellite can track…and make it more comfortable and safe for the cats….. What do you all think???
Is there not capability to sedate Itgel treat his injury and then release him where he was treated? It is obvious he had to have been sedated to place the collar on him initially. Seems rather apathetic to merely observe him in need and not assist him in potential recovery. Such a proactive policy would not be interference with the “balance of nature” and would certainly go a long way toward promoting greater contributions to the SLT.
I believe some comment or answer is appropriate from SNL in view of Itgel’s circumstances. Additionally, there is some likelihood that part of his injury may be attributable to his attempts to remove the collar. Attempts that were obviously successful, but at what cost?
Oh yes, I too do hope he survives!!
Thank you for all your endeavours and let us hope he thrives well and is stronger than any other.
I so wish there was a facility to treat these magnificent cats. He needed antibiotics and the wound needed looking after. Yes, I know they are wild..but we have seen some good results with the Jaguars and Lions.
My heart goes out to all members of Snow Leopard Trust. If the mountains are silent and the snow king dies, we would have lost a teasure not ours but God’s. For that horrible karma, I do not want to think about…
God bless all of you in your work to save these splendid cats of the mountains.
Thank you for the chance to help too..
I hope it was Itgel and that he is OK and able to hunt and survive. “Hope” is a good name for him, all fingers crossed. Please update us when you get any more news from him.
I am thinking positively that Itgel is alive, well and running around.
I hope he’s alive and ok. It must have been quite painful for him to be trapped and injure his leg. God bless you and everyone working to protect you and every other snow leopard from extinction.
I hope he is alive and servives,
Thanks for caring so much and protecting these beautiful animals. I pray that snow leopards survive for centuries to come.
I hope he will be fine.
I would like to know what is SNL policy for helping injured snow leopards that already have a tracking collar attached. I think we all understand the mindset of letting nature take it’s course, but their are circumstances which dictate some kind of intervention to prevent further loss to this endangered species.
Thank you for your question. This is an issue we wrestle with constantly and one that is made more difficult because it often comes up in an emergency situation where decisions have to be made quickly and with little input from others. It is also made difficult because our whole goal is to save snow leopards and when confronted with an injured cat our first instinct is often to do anything to help that cat. But we have to step back and consider if our actions could prove harmful to the cat over the longer-term, such as taking them into captivity in an attempt to help the cat heal.
When confronted with an injured cat our policy is to do everything possible to aid that cat while we work to free it from whatever situation it faces. In Itgel’s case we had to sedate him to remove the herder’s steel leg trap. While sedated we do all we can to help Itgel or any other cat by providing antibiotics, cleaning any wounds, and providing any other care we can to the animal. We are adding the ability to provide subcutaneous fluids if a cat is dehydrated which will also help a great deal.
We continue to be amazed at a wild cat’s ability to recover from what seem to be life threatening injuries. In Itgel’s case our belief he would survive another week after he was released was very low. In the end, however, Itgel surprised us as we tracked his movements for several weeks before he slipped his collar. To date we are still getting unconfirmed reports that a cat resembling Itgel has been seen in the area and we hope he is photographed in the camera trap study going on this summer.
The project will continue to do all it can to ensure the safety of snow leopards in the region and we will regularly assess our programs and policies to ensure we achieve that goal.