Abstract: The Asiatic wild ass Equus hemionus, or khulan, once ranged across much of Central Asia, but is now globally threatened. The largest free-ranging populations are now restricted to a 250-km wide area (range 100ñ400 km) across the Gobi Desert region of southern Mongolia. Over the last 23 years the population has moved further north and east into its former range. Surveys conducted in the 1970s and 1980s estimated that the Mongolian population contained fewer than 15 000 animals and was declining as a result of human exploitation and livestock competition. Aerial surveys (one in autumn 1994, two in spring 1997) were flown as line transects over portions of the khulan's range in Mongolia and ground surveys (’ve in spring, summer, and autumn 1994ñ97) were conducted by vehicle and foot. Sample sizes and areas surveyed were larger than previous surveys, and our methods were often more systematic. Population size was estimated at 33 000ñ63 000 wild asses in Mongolia. Animal density ranged from 4.2 a 1.3 to 19.1a 3.2 per 100 km2. Mean group size ranged from four to 35 animals in the south-western Gobi, four to seven animals in the southern Gobi, and three to 18 in the south-eastern Gobi. Our data suggest that Mongolia is the most important stronghold for the conservation of E. hemionus. Conservation management continues to be challenging because intensive studies on khulan biology and ecology are just beginning. As a freemarket economy continues to emerge in Mongolia, pressure from resource extraction interests and nomadic livestock herders to remove the khulan's protected status, permit harvesting and halt population growth and expansion, also makes implementation of research and conservation management programs more imperative.

Abstract: Like many developing countries, Nepal has adopted a community-based conservation (CBC) approach in recent years to manage its protected areas mainly in response to poor park-people relations. Among other things, under this approach the government has created new “people-oriented” conservation areas, formed and devolved legal authority to grassroots-level institutions to manage local resources, fostered infrastructure development, promoted tourism, and provided income-generating trainings to local people. Of interest to policy-makers and resource managers in Nepal and worldwide is whether this approach to conservation leads to improved attitudes on the part of local people. It is also important to know if personal costs and benefits associated with various intervention programs, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics influence these attitudes. We explore these questions by looking at the experiences in Annapurna and Makalu-Baran Conservation Areas, Nepal, which have largely adopted a CBC approach in policy formulation, planning, and management. The research was conducted during 1996 and 1997; the data collection methods included random household questionnaire surveys, informal interviews, and review of official records and published literature. The results indicated that the majority of local people held favorable attitudes toward these conservation areas. Logistic regression results revealed that participation in training, benefit from tourism, wildlife depredation issue, ethnicity, gender, and education level were the significant predictors of local attitudes in one of the other conservation area. We conclude that the CBC approach has potential to shape favorable local attitudes and that these attitudes will be mediated by some personal attributes.

Abstract: The manual contains the information on snow leopard species listed in Red Data book of Uzbekistan. The data on its biology, distribution and number in republic and within the world is given. Snow leopard conservation problems are considered.

Abstract: Mammals inhabiting the Aksu Jabagly nature reserve make up 79.6 percent of the whole mammal fauna of the West Tien Shan. The following endangered species live in the area: argali, brown bear, dhole, Turkistan lynx, snow leopard, stone marten, porcupine, and free-toiled bat. Snow leopard deserves a special attention.