Abstract: The snow leopard Panthera uncia is one of the least studied felids in the world. Little is know about various aspects of the ecology of the snow leopard, which is cryptic in nature and found across 12 countries in Central Asia. Most research on snow leopards has been based on non-invasive methods such as sign surveys for presence (e.g. Jackson and Hunter 1996), scat analyses for diet (e.g. Chundawat and Rawat 1992; Oli et al., 2008, 2010) for population estimation, and studies based on human interviews (Mehta and Heinen 2001; Mishra and Bagchi 2006).
Despite this plethora of studies employing non-invasive techniques, several crucial questions about snow leopard ecology remain unanswered. Information about the animal’s home range, dispersal, corridors, pattern of habitat use, movement patterns, hunting frequency, behavior and intra – specific interactions is not available yet. In order to design population monitoring studies using camera traps or DNA analyses, one needs a good understanding of snow leopard ecology, including the home range and movement patterns (Williams et al., 2002). Telemetry is still the best available method and perhaps much less invasive than direct observations for studying the biology and ecology of cryptic animals.

Abstract: About natural dead case of Snow leopard close to Almaty megapolis.
Published in special edition as named “Teriofauna of Qazaqstan and neighboring countries (the materials of international science conference ”The problems of research, conservation and sustainable use for teriofauna of Qazastan and neighboring countries“, November, 15-16, 2009, Almaty)” under supervision of the Institute of Zoology, Center of Biological Research, Committee of Science, Ministry of Education and Science, The Republic of Qazaqstan.

Abstract: Theory predicts that small populations may be driven to extinction by random fluctuations in demography and loss of genetic diversity through drift. However, population size is a poor predictor of extinction in large carnivores inhabiting protected areas. Conflict with people on reserve borders is the major cause of mortality in such populations, so that border areas represent population sinks. The species most likely to disappear from small reserves are those that range widely-and are therefore most exposed to threats on reserve borders-irrespective of population size. Conservation efforts that combat only stochastic processes are therefore unlikely to avert extinction.

Abstract: The snow leopard (Uncia uncial Schreber, 1776) is the most poorly studied species of the cat family in the world and, in particular, in Russia, where the northern periphery of the species area (no more than 3% of it) is located in the Altai-Hangai-Sayan range [1]. It is generally known that the existing data on the Russian part of the snow leopard population have never been a result of targeted studies; at best, they have been based on recording the traces of the snow leopard vital activity [2]. This is explained by the snow leopard's elusive behavior, inaccessibility of its habitats for humans, and its naturally small total numbers in the entire species area. All published data on the population status of the snow leopard in Russia, from the first descriptions of the species [3-6] to the latest studies [7, 8] are subjective, often speculative, and are not confirmed by
quantitative estimates. It is obvious, however, that every accurate observation of this animal is of particular interest [9]. The purpose of our study was to determine the structure and size of the population group presumably inhabiting the Western Sayan mountain ridge at the northern boundary of the species area

Abstract: Three dog heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) were detected in the lumen of the right cardiac ventriculus and of the pulmonary artery of a captive female snow leopard (Uncia uncia) that died of pancreatic carcinoma at a zoo in Japan. Neither clinical respiratory nor circulatory symptoms caused by the heartworm infection were observed. The filarial worms were identified as D. immitis from the morphologic characteristics of the esophagus, the presence of faint longitudinal ridges on the cuticular surface, the situation of vulva posterior to the esophagus, and the measurements of the body. The heartworms from the snow leopard were identical to that of D. immitis from dogs in the sequence of the cytochrome oxidase I region in the mitochondrial DNA. This host record is the first of D. immitis in U. uncia.