The Kyrgyz Republic is a small, mountainous country in the heart of Central Asia. Annexed by Russia in 1864, the Kyrgyz Republic became an independent state when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Many of the Kyrgyz people subsist as nomadic cattle and sheep herders. However, this lifestyle does not afford much economic security, especially in a country that is still struggling to get to its feet after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Economic pressures have increased conflicts between people and wildlife, leading to more trouble for the snow leopard. Click on the map below for a more detailed look at this snow leopard range country.

Quick Links:

• Fast Facts - Answers to common questions about this snow leopard range country

• Threats to Snow Leopards - Challenges that put the Kyrgyz Republic's cats at risk

• Programs - How the Snow Leopard Trust is working in the Kyrgyz Republic to help

• Country Profile - Further information about the Kyrgyz Republic's environment, history, people, and economy

Fast Facts

Area: 198,500 sq km (slightly smaller than the U.S. state of South Dakota)
Area of snow leopard habitat: 105,000 sq km
Highest point: Jengish Chokusu (Pobeda Peak) 7,439 m
Human population: 5,081,429
Snow leopard population: 150 - 500
Average income (in US$) of people living in snow leopard areas: $120

Threats to Snow Leopards

Challenges that put the Kyrgyz Republic's cats at risk

Poaching of snow leopards for trade in hides or bones

Kyrgyz herders in the regions where snow leopards live face a harsh life with little economic stability. Selling the pelts and bones of illegally hunted snow leopards on the black market can provide a lucrative source of additional income.

Killing of snow leopards in retribution for livestock depredation

As a growing human population pushes further into snow leopard territory, their livestock herds often overgraze wild grasslands, leaving less food for the wild sheep and goats that are the snow leopard's primary prey. People may also hunt wild sheep and goats for meat. When their wild prey is scarce, snow leopards sometimes turn to domestic livestock for food. Herders who have lost livestock to snow leopards sometimes kill the offending cats in retaliation.

Programs

How the International Snow Leopard Trust is working in the Kyrgyz Republic to help

Community-based conservation: Snow Leopard Enterprises

The Snow Leopard Enterprises program, which expanded to the Kyrgyz Republic in 2002 after initial successes in Mongolia, encourages snow leopard conservation while helping increase the incomes of rural people through handicraft production. Two Kyrgyz villages are currently participating in the program. Click here to shop for Snow Leopard Enterprises products.

Education

Snow Leopard Trust staff in the Kyrgyz Republic develop educational materials and conduct community seminars on ecology and nature conservation. Children from various villages are given the chance to attend an annual educational eco-camp focusing on snow leopard ecology and conservation.

Research and monitoring

The Snow Leopard Trust's ongoing research and monitoring efforts in the Kyrgyz Republic include a recent study comparing trap cameras and several other methods for estimating snow leopard population sizes, which could help researchers working throughout the cat's range. Extensive studies of snow leopard and prey population abundance have been carried out near the Sary Chat Ertash wildlife reserve and other protected areas. The Trust is also working with the environmentally-minded managers of the Kumtor Gold Mine to help them understand the ecological effects of the mine.