One of the snow leopards in our long term ecological study, Tsagaan, recently died. We do not yet know the cause of his death but we are actively investigating and will post the findings as soon as we have them. Our field researcher Orjan explains.
Two days ago I got an email saying that Tsagaan had been in the same place for four days and after that we had not received any locations for seven days. The site is far from camp and we did not know what had happened to him but to be prepared for anything we packed our motorbikes with equipment, food, water, headlamps, clothes, necropsy sample kit etc.
Unfortunately we found Tsagaan lying dead high up on a mountain. He had chosen a sheltered cliff wall with a magnificent view for his final resting place. There were no visible wounds on the body and as of now we do not know what he died of, hopefully a necropsy can provide some answers.
The collaring study provides insights into the lives of some snow leopards and changes them from a ‘grey mass’ somewhere far out in the mountains into individuals with their own personalities. I have caught Tsagaan five times over the last three years, after the first time I always knew when it was him. Before I was in sight of him he greeted me with a growl and as I approached him he hissed and bared his teeth, trying to scare me. None of the other cats have behaved as aggressively as he did. His complete opposite is Aztai, a male of similar size who I have also caught five times. Aztai lies still and settles with staring at me, I have even led him away from a steep cliff, holding his collar. I would not have tried that with Tsagaan.
As I hike in the mountains here I often try to imagine what it is like to be a snow leopard. For a cat this must be the perfect terrain. They are the undisputed kings of these mountains. No one can touch them here, let alone harm them, with the exception of humans with our technology. Sure I am able to catch up with them, but I use tools that are far from natural. And as I try to climb the slopes, stumbling and catching my breath– even though I never venture into the really rugged parts that the snow leopards love–I must be quite a feeble sight to them. Tsagaan must have seen me many times, recognizing my red jacket. I bet that he wondered how that miserable creature could have caught him.
Tsagaan was the dominant male of a large part of central Tost which he ruled since at least February 2009 when we first collared him. His home range encompassed all three of our collared females. That is not a bad life, right? Since none of the females have cubs at the moment, there is a good chance that we will see little Tsagaan Juniors arriving in the South Gobi this summer.
Cheers,
Orjan
Sorry to hear about this. I hope that the results of the necropsy help you to determine what caused this. The work you are doing is admirable. It must be so amazing to be able to see these incredible and beautiful wild cats living in their own natural environment.
I had wanted to adopt Tsagaan, his expression on his face has always stayed with me since the very first time I saw this image. I had already adopted Aztai and Shonkhor for my brother and sister’s family in hopes of teaching my young niece and nephews about these amazing cats and the importance of conservation efforts being done to help them. I adopted Zaraa yesterday and look forward in reading the blog posts and stories of her whereabouts and what is being learned.
Thanks for this blog post giving me a little insight into the life of Tsagaan. Keeping my fingers crossed that I hear news about the arrival of Tsagaan Jr. cubs.
Dear Angelica,
Firstly, thank you so much for your kind words and support of the Snow Leopard Trust through our snow leopard adoptions. Your efforts have an incredible impact on our ability to protect these cats is the wild and we appreciate it more than you know. Tsagaan was one of the first snow leopards to be collared in our study and we have been fortunate enough to follow him for a little over two years. We have been able to learn an incredible amount about his personality and such a sudden loss is truly regrettable.
Hopefully we will learn more about the possibility of Tsagaan juniors soon as well as provide information about the cause of death.
Best Wishes,
Makenna O’Meara
Stumbled upon your blog so I’m not familiar with your study, but I very much enjoyed hearing this sweet recount of a beautiful creature. Peace.
Oh, so sorry to hear this 🙁
Please update the necropsy result
Oh that is sad and i am so sorry. I hope that someone shot him or died of hunger. I know about this is because i am doing a topic on snow leopards.
Nakoma
this is very sad. Im sorry for your loss.
i think that all of the animals should be out freely
thats i idea and we would feed all the animals.
im so sad the some animals have to die
This is very sad. Congratulations on your research and the good work you do. Look forward to further updates on your work with these beautiful creatures.
There really are no words to express our loss of this beautiful creature. I am very thankful that there are organizations like the The Snow Leopard Trust who are actively doing everything possible to protect this endangered species. Each time I have looked at a picture of Tsagaan it was his eyes that struck me with such strong emotions. If there were any words to describe this it would be ” True Pureness “.
Tsagaan may you always have a full tummy. We will miss you.
I’m so sorry to hear about this beautiful creature. When I have money, I plan on adopting one or donaating. Thank you for all of the commendable work you do.
hello,
i am a belgian scientist and semi-pro photographer with interest in wildlife nmanagement; I am trying to gather information in order to organize a trip in the next years trying to see snow lepard and photograph them. is there any possibility to join you during fieldwork in Mongolia for a while?
of course my primary aim would be to photograph the leopard – even if my chance is slim it does not matter – and besides i have knowledge on camera trapping (have used the reconyx ones myself in tropical forest of sierra leone in west africa to conduct a mark-recapture study). my reearch area deals with pop dynamics and i have devopped skills on CMR data modelling so i am willing to help you in return if you need anything
i will be happy to hear from you to continue further this discussion via my personal email at monticelli.david@gmail.com if you wish so. many thanks again and good luck with the fieldwork
cheers
david
Extremely sorry to hear about this, but I hope it is just a part of the circle of life rather than anything sinister!
Best of luck out there – with your hard work, we’re sure to have plenty of good news to overwhelm the bad!
-Scott
We would like to express our deepest sympathies on this sad loss.
We really hope there will be many of healthy junior Tsagaans.
All the best for your great job!
Team at Active Adventure Tours Mongolia
sorry i did a mistake on mine. there real messege i wanted to say was
Oh that is sad and i am so sorry. I hope that someone !DID NOT! shot him or died of hunger. I know about this is because i am doing a topic on snow leopards.
Nakoma
sorry i forgot to say did not