The Snow Leopard Trust carries out multiple research projects throughout the year, and this fall three countries have made important steps forward.
In India, field biologists installed the second round of research cameras for the year. These cameras will remain in the field until early January. The goal for this project is to better understand the distribution and density of snow leopards as well as that of wild and domestic prey populations. This knowledge will be infinitely valuable in resolving human-wildlife conflicts in the area.
Photo at left taken in Spiti, India by remote sensing cameras earlier this year. Courtesy Snow Leopard Trust.
Our research team in Pakistan collected baseline data this spring on snow leopard population size in Karakoram National Park. This will help focus goals for remote sensing camera placement in the area.
Last year, one of our students did surveys in the Alay region of Kyrgyzstan, a major connector between the northern and southern ranges of snow leopards. She collected information on snow leopards, lynx, brown bear and marco polo sheep. Recent analysis indicates that snow leopards in the Alay region could be facing local extinction risks of up to 50%. We are now working on understanding the direct and indirect threats to snow leopards in order to develop appropriate conservation initiatives.