Mongolia is a high, remote country landlocked between two powerful neighbors: Russia to the north, and China to the east, south, and west.  Many Mongolians continue to follow an ancient nomadic lifestyle, herding their sheep and other livestock across the steppe in search of good pasture.  Yet this pastoral existence is lived close to the edge of economic survival, increasing people-wildlife conflicts and causing some herders to turn to poaching to get by.  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 Mongolia's cats at risk

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

• Country Profile - Further information about Mongolia's environment, history, people, and economy

Fast Facts

Area: 1,565,000 square km (slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Alaska)
Area of snow leopard habitat: 101,000 sq km
Highest point: Huyten Orgil (Nayramadlin Orgil--"Mount Friendship"), 4,374 m
Human population: 2,751,314
Snow leopard population: 500-1,000
Average income (in US$) of people living in snow leopard areas: $600

Threats to Snow Leopards

Challenges that put Mongolia's cats at risk

Poaching of snow leopards for trade in hides and bones

A Mongolian herder's income is unpredictable--dependent on the health of the herd and the vagaries of the weather--and barely enough for subsistence even in a good year.  Some herders turn to poaching to supplement their incomes.

Killing of snow leopards in retribution for livestock depredation

As livestock numbers in Mongolia increased rapidly during the 1990s, snow leopard predation on domestic livestock also rose.  Herders sometimes killed the offending cats in retaliation.  More recently, a series of severe winters in the early 2000s has diminished livestock herds--although this has been devastating for herders, in consequence both snow leopard predation and retaliation killings have decreased.

Programs

How the Snow Leopard Trust is working in Mongolia to help

Community-based conservation: Snow Leopard Enterprises

This major Snow Leopard Trust program, which got its start in Mongolia in the late 1990s, encourages snow leopard conservation while helping increase the incomes of rural Mongolians through handicraft production.  Nearly 300 herder-artisans and their families in six provinces of Mongolia are involved today, and participants increase their household income by as much as 25 percent.  Click here to shop for Snow Leopard Enterprises products.

Education

Together with Peace Corps volunteers, Trust staff in Mongolia develop educational posters and other materials and conduct community seminars on ecology and nature conservation.  Snow Leopard Enterprises activities also include a substantial educational component.

Research and monitoring

The Snow Leopard Trust's ongoing scientific activities in Mongolia include monitoring snow leopard and prey population levels in areas around the Trust's program sites. The results of Snow Leopard Information Management Systems (SLIMS) surveys have led to the establishment of two protected areas to help the snow leopard. In the future, some research on snow leopard genetics will likely take place in Mongolia.

Snow Leopard Action Plan

The Snow Leopard Trust participated in the development of the Mongolian Snow Leopard Conservation Management Plan in 1999, and is working to encourage its adoption as an official policy document by the Mongolian government.