Most big cats are territorial, with males commonly using larger home ranges than females. But what is driving the spatial behavior of these cats? A new study published in the journal Ecosphere compares spatial data from snow leopards and pumas to better understand what is governing their territorial behavior. Two factors stand out: abundance of prey and access to potential mates. However, the way they work together is not what researchers expected.
Dagina, an eight-year old female snow leopard we’ve known since she was a tiny cub, becomes our latest cat to be tracked with a GPS collar in the world’s most comprehensive study of wild snow leopards.
Örjan Johansson’s groundbreaking work on the snow leopard’s biology and behavior has led to novel insights into the spatial needs, predation patterns, and reproduction cycle of this elusive cat. Now, after 8 years of field work, collaring 23 individual snow leopards and spending more than 1,000 nights in the Gobi Desert, this pioneering scientist has received his PhD from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
GPS collars will allow Snow Leopard Trust researchers to better understand the elusive species.
Field scientist Örjan Johansson is back in the South Gobi, the site of our long-term snow leopard study. Together with his colleague Gustaf Samelius, he’s attempting to collar snow leopards and ibex this spring to allow us to track their movements. This is his field diary.
Tsetsen, a male snow leopard wearing a GSP collar in Mongolia’s Tost Mountains as part of the Snow Leopard Trust’s long-term study of these cats, has gone offline as scheduled. The batteries on Tsetsen’s collar appear to have run out. The collar itself will drop off the cat in the next weeks.
The saga of Anu continues. This snow leopard mother living in Mongolia’s Tost mountains not only keeps surprising us – she also provides a powerful example of nature’s perseverance!
Using remote-sensor research cameras and GPS tracking collars, Snow Leopard Trust researchers have been able to follow and observe a young female snow leopard named Anu over the course of four years as she grew up, dispersed from her mother and later had cubs herself twice in her mountain habitat in Mongolia’s South Gobi. The latest photos show Anu followed by three small cubs. Her tale is a powerful sign of hope for the endangered cat species.
Good news from the base camp of our long-term snow leopard study in Mongolia’s Tost Mountains: Our team has managed to equip a new male snow leopard with a GPS collar, allowing them to track the cat’s movements in the months to come.
Less than a week ago, field scientist Örjan Johansson and his team managed to equip a new snow leopard with a GPS collar – the 20th cat we’ll be able to track in our long-term snow leopard study in Mongolia’s South Gobi. Since then, the team have struggled with snow, fog and solid ice, as …
