Abstract: Kyrgyzstan is a land of towering mountains, glaciers, rushing streams, wildflowercovered meadows, forests, snow leopards, soaring eagles, and yurt-dwelling nomads. The entire nation lies astride the Tian Shan1, Chinese for “Heavenly Mountains”, one of the world's highest mountain ranges, which is 7439 m (24,400 ft) in elevation at its highest point. The nation is the second smallest of the former Soviet Central Asian republics. In
spite of Kyrgyzstan's diverse wildlife and stunning natural beauty, the nation remains little known, and, as yet, still on the frontier of international conservation efforts. The following report is the product of 12 months of research into the state of conservation and land-use in Kyrgyzstan. This effort was funded by the Fulbright Commission of the U.S. State Department, and represents the most recent findings of the author's personal environmental journey through Inner Asia, which began in 1999. When I first started my preliminary research for this project, I was extremely surprised to learn that, even though the Tian Shan Range has tremendous ecological significance for conservation efforts in middle Asia, there wasn't a single major international conservation organization with an office in the former Soviet Central Asian republics. Even more surprising was how little awareness there is of conservation issues in the Tian Shan region amongst conservation workers in neighboring areas who are attempting to preserve similar species assemblages and ecosystems to those found in the Tian Shan. Given this lack of awareness, and the great potential for the international community to make a positive contribution towards improving the current state of biodiversity conservation in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, I have summarized my findings on protected areas and conservation in Kyrgyzstan and the Tian Shan of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang in the chapters below. The report begins with some brief background information on geography and society in the Kyrgyz Republic, followed by an overview of biodiversity and the state of conservation in the nation, which at the present time closely parallels the state of conservation in the other former Soviet Central Asian republics. Part IV of the report provides a catalog of all major protected areas in Kyrgyzstan and the other Tian Shan nations, followed by a list of sites in Kyrgyzstan that are as yet unprotected but merit protection. In the appendices the reader will find fairly comprehensive species lists of flora and fauna found in the Kyrgyz Republic, including lists of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, trees and shrubs, wildflowers, and endemic plants. In addition, a
draft paper on the history and current practice of pastoral nomadism in Kyrgyzstan has been included in Appendix A. While the research emphasis for this study was on eastern Kyrgyzstan, over the course of the study the author did have the opportunity to make brief journeys to southern Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang. While falling short of being a definitive survey of protected areas of the Tian Shan, the informational review which
follows is the first attempt at bringing the details of conservation efforts throughout the entire Tian Shan Range together in one place. It is hoped that this summary of biodiversity and conservation in the Tian Shan will generate interest in the region amongst conservationists, and help increase efforts to protect this surprisingly unknown range that forms an island of meadows, rivers, lakes, and forests in the arid heart of Asia.

Abstract: Habitat selection of Snow Leopard ( Unica unica) in Beita Mountain of the Altay Mountain system in northeast Xinjiang was conducted from September to October 2004. Six habitat features of 59 sites used by Snow Leopard and 30 random plots were measured by locating 15 transects surveys in the study area . Vanderploge and Scaviaps selectivity index was used to assess Snow Leopardps selection for the different habitat parameters. Principal Component Analysis was used as the primary factor . The results indicated that Snow Leopard preferred the altitude between 2000 – 2 200 m and avoided 2 600 – 3 000 m ; selected cliff base , ridgeline and avoided hillside and valley bottom ; utilized the shrub and rejected the forest ; selected the nongrazing area and avoided the slightly broken region ; preferred north orientation and rejected the south orientation. The results show that grazing status , vegetation type , topography and the ruggedness are the primary factors for the habitat selection of Snow Leopard.

Abstract: The main purpose of this work was to study the use of infrared trapping cameras to estimate Snow Leopard population size in a specific study area. This is the first time a study of this nature has taken place in China. During 71 days of field work, a total of 36 cameras were set up in Muzat Valley adjacent to the Tomur Nature Reserve in Xinjiang Province. We expended approximately 2094 trap days total. At least 32 pictures of Snow Leopards, 22 pictures of other wild species and 72 pictures of livestock were taken in the Muzat Valley. Meanwhile, 20 transects were run and 31 feces sample were collected. We also observed the behavior of ibex for 77.3 hours and found a total of approximately 264 ibexes in the research area.

Abstract: The snow leopard and it s p rey were investigated in Beita Mountain Region , Xinjiang in Sep . 2004.
Both the field survey and questionnaire were involved in this project which was supported by the International
Snow Leopard Trust and Xinjiang Conservation Fund. The signs marked by the snow leopard were used
to reflect the living condition of snow leopard and they were collected by running transects. The prey investigation was conducted by positioned observation and route survey. Fifteen transects were done in the
project and 67 signs leaved by snow leopard were discovered in total. 58. 2 % of them were scrapes ,
35.8 % of t hem were feces , 4.5 % of them were claw rakes and 1. 5 % of them were scent
spray. As to the prey resources , 4 herds of 23 ibex and 24 herds of 418 chukars were found during the survey. Also 81 local people of 5 different nationalities were interviewed during the field work , 13.
58 % of them had seen the snow leopard , 20. 99 % of them had heard of snow leopard but not seen. Among t hem , 10 herdsmen had sufferred from the loss of livestock attacked by snow leopard.

Abstract: The population of snow leopard (Uncia uncia) is plummeting as waterfall in
the last ten years. The illegal trade of snow leopard products is one of the fatal
factors. The biggest range and the biggest population of snow leopard both are in
China, and the largest trade is also in the country. Through questionnaires and
investigation with informants from 2002 to 2012, a lot of data were collected
through variety ways in different regions. In this paper 387 cases of snow leopard
poaching including smuggling routes, product list, price system and product usages
from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were collected for analysis and discussion. In
the face of rapid development in the west of China, the results showed that our
government did not try to protect the snow leopards, and the text of law was
practically useless. International organizations such as WWF, WCS, IUCN, PANTHERA,
SLT & SLN with SLSS were also powerless and helpless to stop snow leopard poaching
and trading. As a result, the fate of the snow leopard is very bad, and this is
worrying.

Abstract: Uncia uncia is one of the rare large species on the brink of extinction in Felidae in the world, and inhabit only the Central Asian mountains. It is said that there are currently only 4500-7300 Uncia uncia surviving. During the period from September 2004 to July 2005, the habitat selection of Uncia uncia was investigated in some mountains in Xinjiang, including the eastern Tianshan Mountains, Beita Mountains, Altay Mounts and Mount Tumor National Nature Reserve. In several months of fieldwork, we got 171 sign samples of Uncia uncia and 123 random samples in total. Five habitat features, i.e., the elevation, topographic features, vegetation type, grazing status and ruggedness, are selected to compare the difference of selectivity of the Uncia uncia habitat selection. The Chi-square goodness-of-fit test and the binomial test are used to check the significance of Uncia uncia habitat selection, and the principal component analysis is used to find the primary factors in in the selection. The result s are as follows : (1) Uncia uncia selected all kinds of the habitat types , especially the elevation , topography , vegetation types and ruggedness ; (2) Ruggedness and the vegetation types are the preliminary factors for the habitat selection. Topography is the secondary factor ; (3) Uncia uncia prefer to inhabit in the rugged habitat s with moderate shrubberies , and they also like to leave signs in valley bottoms rather than hillsides.

Abstract: The Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia) investigation in the Tomur area is the second step of the “Project of Snow Leopard Study in Xinjiang”. In this part of the project, we collected information on the distribution , abundance and population size of the snow leopard in this area. The investigation lasted for 3 weeks, between October 17 and November 7th, 2004. During the 22 days of field work, we surveyed 4 different places in Wensu County, Aksu District: e.g. Pochenzi and the Muzat River area, Bozdun and the Little Kuzbay River area, Yinyar and the Tomur River area, Taglak and the Qiong Tailan River area. The 4 main areas, along with a few other valleys, covered most of the Tomur National Conservation Zone. In total, we ran 42 transects. In 15 transects, we found signs left by snow leopards. We also collected 15 fecal samples for diet analysis. This time we interviewed nearly 90 local people from different nationalities: e.g. Han (Chinese), Uygur and Kyrgyz people, including herdsmen, geologists, mineworkers, drivers, veterinarians, businessmen, forest officials, soldiers and policemen. They provided us with an array of information on the historical and current distribution and abundance of the snow leopard in this area.

Abstract: From March to May, 2006œªwe conducted extensive snow leopard surveys in the Burhanbuda Mountain Kunlun Mountains, Qinghai Province, China. 32 linear transect of 5~15 km each, which running through each vegetation type, were surveyed within the study area. A total of 72 traces of snow leopard were found along 4 transects (12.5% of total transects). The traces included pug marks or footprints, scrapes and urine marks. We estimated the average density of wild ungulates in the region was 2.88ñ0.35 individuals km-2(n=29). We emplaced 16 auto2 trigger cameras in different environments and eight photos of snow leopard were shot by four cameras and the capture rate of snow leopard was 71.4%. The minimum snow leopard population size in the Burhanbuda Mountain was two, because two snow leopards were phototrapped by different cameras at almost same time. Simultaneously, the cameras also shot 63 photos of other wild animals, including five photos are unidentified wild animals, and 20 photos of livestock. We evaluated the human attitudes towards snow leopard by interviewing with 27 Tibetan householders of 30 householders live in the study area. We propose to establish a nature reserve for protecting and managing snow leopards in the region. Snow leopard (Uncia uncia) is considered as a unique species because it lives above the snow line, it is endemic to alpines in Central Asia, inhabiting in 12 countries across Central Asia (Fox, 1992). Snow leopard ranges in alpine areas in Qinghai, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Gansu and Sichuan in western China (Liao, 1985, 1986; Zhou, 1987; Ma et al., 2002; Jiang & Xu, 2006). The total population and habitat of snow leopards in China are estimated to be 2,000~2,500 individuals and 1,824,316 km2, only 5% of which is under the protection of nature reserves. The cat's current range is fragmented (Zou & Zheng, 2003). Due to strong human persecutions, populations of snow leopards decreased significantly since the end of the 20th century. Thus, the
snow leopards are under the protection of international and domestic laws. From March to May, 2006, we conducted two field surveys in Zhiyu Village, Dulan County in Burhanbuda Mountain, Kunlun Mountains, China to determine the population, distribution and survival status of snow leopards in the area. The aim of the study was to provide ecologic data for snow leopard conservation.

Abstract: Snow leopards live in the mountains of Central Asia, their range stretching from Afganastan to Lake Baikal in Eastern Tibet. They are endangered throughout their range, being hunted as predators of mains livestock and for their skin. Much of the snow leopards range lies in China, but not enough is known about its staus there for effective conservation. As part of a project to assess China's high altitude wildlife resources the authors conducted a survey in Xinjiang- a vast arid region of deserts and mountains. Although the snow leopard and other wildlife have declined steeply in Xinjiang in recent decades, the cta still persists and one area has the potential to become one of the best refuges for the species in its entire range. Its future in XInjiang, howevere, depends on well protected reserves, enforcement of regulations against killing the animal, and proper managemnt of the prey species.