Category: Science and Research

JUNE 11: The Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) today announced the successful launch of a new long-term study of snow leopards with the establishment of the J. Tserendeleg Snow Leopard Research Center in Mongolia’s South Gobi Province. Located in the Tost mountains, approximately 250 km west of the provincial capital of Dalanzadgad, the research center is situated in some of Mongolia’s best snow leopard habitat. SLT has had
active conservation programs in this area for nearly a decade.

Today the research center consists of a modest 3 gers (yurts) but is already home to an international team of scientists and graduate students from Mongolia, India, USA, and Argentina. A Ph.D. student from Sweden will join the team next month. The center will be staffed year-round. Several local residents will be employed to provide logistical support and serve as field assistants on the various study components.

The research facility is named for one of Mongolia’s most respected conservationists, the late J. Tserendeleg, who was instrumental in establishing the first radio-collaring study of snow leopards in Mongolia in the early 1990s in collaboration with George Schaller and Tom McCarthy. “We can’t think of a better way to honor the man who did so much for snow leopard conservation in our country”, said Bayarjargal, Director of the Snow Leopard Conservation Fund (SLT’s Mongolian affiliate). Over the next 10 to 15 years the research
facility is expected to grow and eventually include an information center for local people and tourists, as well as a training/education center that will host scientists and graduate students from around the region. Despite its remote location the facility will be state-of-the-art from the outset. Already internet capable, the facility will also be fully solar powered by the end of this summer.

The first team of scientists is already busy conducting camera trapping and genetics studies. Methods testing will be a primary task of researchers at the facility and a Mongolian graduate student will be evaluating occupancy surveys as an alternative to ‘SLIMS’ sign transects, that have proven unreliable for monitoring snow leopard numbers, as the subject her thesis research this summer.

The most ambitious undertaking this year will be the initiation of GPS collaring of snow leopards in July. The new generation of collars the team will deploy uses satellite phone technology to uplink multiple GPS locations a day for each collared cat. This technology was selected to overcome problems related to failures of Argos-based uplinks for numerous collared species in the country. The findings from this collaring
project will add greatly to our knowledge of snow leopards, especially when viewed in conjunction with a similar study that will be initiated by the Snow Leopard Conservancy elsewhere in Mongolia later this summer. The two studies are complimentary and will share data for the betterment of the species.

The long-term study in South Gobi is a collaborative effort of the Snow Leopard Trust, Snow Leopard Conservation Fund, the Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment, the Mongolian Institute of Biology, Felidae Conservation Fund, Panthera, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Regular reports will be posted to the SLN listserve and on the websites of many of the collaborating organizations.

For more information contact: Tom McCarthy, Science and Conservation Director, SLT.
tom@snowleopard.org www.snowleopard.org

From “The Hindu” Online edition of India‘s National Newspaper
Monday, May 19, 2008

Thimphu: Bhutan is the only country to have tigers at incredibly high altitudes, where their habitat is overlapping those of the elusive snow leopards, conservationists in the Himalayan country have claimed.

Fresh pictures and pugmarks from the Jigme Dorji National Park show that Royal Bengal tigers in Bhutan are being found at altitudes never seen before. Authorities say the tigers are being found at heights overlapping the habitat of the snow leopard.

The study, which started in April, is using 38 strategically placed GPS-marked and infrared-trigger cameras to find out the total number of tigers. It will also be extended to secure a photographic record of the total number of snow leopards in the country.

The reasons for tigers being found at such high altitudes will hopefully emerge from the study. “We may also get data on how the overlapping of territory of these two big cats may be affecting each other, if at all,” said ‘Tiger’ Sangay of the Nature Conservation Division. — PTI

http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/19/stories/2008051951442000.htm

From zeenews.com:

Thimphu, May 20: With tigers and wild dogs encroaching habitat of snow leopards and little information available about their spread and abundance, scientists in Bhutan are mulling genetic fingerprinting to know more about this elusive animal.

The technique, used along with a modern graph calculation system, will provide a more scientific estimate of the number, spread and abundance of snow leopards in Bhutan, said animal biologist Tsewang.

“To track these animals by genetic fingerprinting, we will collect their ‘scat’ or faeces and analyse their DNA for more information on them,” he said.

Tsewang has already gone ‘scat’ hunting and come up with some interesting findings. “In Bartshong-Lingshi under Jigme Dorji National Park we were told by officials that stray dogs were found to be encroaching in the habitat of the snow leopard.”

According to villagers, these dogs have also been known to corner leopards and steal their kill with ease. Authorities say tigers in the country are being found at altitudes so high that they are overlapping the habitat of the snow leopard.

According to Tsewang, the best places for snow leopard scat and signs are off the beaten track and deeper into the forest. “These leopards prefer places like steep cliffs at an elevation, bases of cliffs, narrow bases and ridges. They sometimes even come as low as the river when travelling from one place to another,” he said.

The study, when completed, will also show whether snow leopards are using the biological corridors.

“We’ll determine this by seeing if the gene pools are mixing in the different parks of Bhutan,” said Tsewang.

Bureau Report

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=444055&sid=ENV&ssid=26

In Memoriam

In recognition of the her pivotal role in bringing the plight of the snow leopard into the world’s consciousness and in championing broad conservation efforts to save the species across its range, the participants of this conference wish to honor Helen Freeman by dedicating the outcomes and stipulated conservation actions to her memory.

Participants

This conference was attended by representatives from eleven snow leopard range countries including Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Representatives from six non-range countries also participated. The participants agreed upon the following vision and resolutions.

A Vision for Snow Leopards over the next century
A world where snow leopards and their wild prey thrive in healthy mountain ecosystems across all major ecological settings^a of their entire range^b, and where snow leopards are revered as unique ecological, economic, aesthetic and spiritual assets.

^a Defined as: Altai-Sayan, Trans-Altai – Alashan Gobi, Tian Shan, Pamir, Hindu-Kush, Karakorum, Himalayas, Hengduan Mountains, and Tibetan Plateau
^b As defined by the potential range analysis conducted in a workshop during this conference. Resolutions

1. All range countries should expedite development of a Snow Leopard Action Plan, or implement existing plans to the fullest extent. A draft plan should be developed within 12 months and be based on the aforementioned range-wide vision, and set a framework that addresses the human-snow leopard interface looking at economic, cultural, moral, aesthetic and ethical issues. Plans should also take into account successful models from within and outside range states for designing and implementing conservation, research and monitoring programs for snow leopards while supporting local peoples who are maintaining the natural heritage of snow leopards and their mountain ecosystems.

2. Each country will designate a national snow leopard focal point from a relevant institution to coordinate with the Snow Leopard Network and other focal points for the exchange of information at the national and international level.

3. Range state governments will develop mechanisms (e.g., Memoranda of Understanding) to promote transboundary cooperation on matters such as trade, research and management relevant to snow leopard conservation that include, inter alia, the impacts of climate change on distribution and long-term survival of snow leopards, and where possible incorporate positive actions within conservation programs (e.g ,carbon neutral projects).

The international conference on Range-wide Conservation Planning for Snow Leopards held in Beijing, China, from 7 – 11 March, was deemed a major success by the conference organizers which included the Panthera Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), Snow Leopard Network (SLN), and the Chinese Institute of Zoology. Conference co-Chair Dr. Tom McCarthy (SLT) labeled it “A watershed event in our common effort to save snow leopards.”

Leading conservationists and researchers, as well as government officials from 11 of 12 snow leopard range countries, were among the more than 100 conference attendees.

Founder and Executive Chairman of Panthera, Tom Kaplan, announced that organization’s commitment to an unprecedented range-wide effort to conserve snow leopards. Panthera’s offer of partnerships and collaboration, backed by substantial resources, caught the attention of the audience. The magnitude of the task ahead was echoed in keynote addresses by Dr. George Schaller (WCS), one of the first people to ever study the elusive snow leopard, and Dr. Urs Breitenmoser, co-Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group, who made it clear that saving the big cats would not be easy and would require substantial effort of all concerned.

Unlike many conferences which showcase the plight of an imperiled species but take few positive steps toward their conservation, the gathering in Beijing included several work sessions that sought specific results which would be immediately applicable to preserving snow leopards across their central Asian range. The first two days were dedicated to mapping the collective knowledge of 30 experts occurrence and distribution. Led by Dr. Eric Sanderson (WCS) and Dr. David Mallon (SLN), participants worked in regional teams to map the known and suspected range of the cats and identify critical conservation units within the range. Despite past efforts to depict exactly where snow leopards can still be found, maps of their range were based on habitat models and scant data, much of it anecdotal. The map created during this conference represents the collective field data of the world’s most knowledgeable scientists, which is unprecedented for this species.

Invited speakers then shared expertise on successful conservation methods and best practices in research methods, and country teams reported on the status of snow leopard action plans across the region. The participants were then charged with using the new range maps and targeted conservation units to develop country specific actions that should be undertaken in the next several years if snow leopards are to be saved. Each country’s plan was designed with the following shared vision in mind.

A Vision for Snow Leopards over the next century:

A world where snow leopards and their wild prey thrive in healthy mountain ecosystems across all major ecological settings of their entire range, and where snow leopards are revered as unique ecological, economic, and spiritual assets.

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A full report, inclusive of all country-specific actions and the new range map, will soon be available from the co-organizers and will also be found on the Snow Leopard Network website: www.snowleopardnetwork.org