Through our Long-Term Ecological Study in the Tost region of Mongolia, we are learning a great deal about the lives of wild snow leopards. Below are some exciting updates straight from the field!

An Update on the Cats:

Update from the Field

November 2012

Wild snow

leopards are currently wearing GPS radio collars

7

Pg. 1

At a glance...

4females 3males

Where’s Lasya?

Lasya’s collar fell off on its

scheduled date, exactly 18

months from the day it was

put on. It’s great to know that the drop-off date utility

on the collar is functioning,

and if we get the opportunity

to re-collar Laysa in the

future, it will help us contin-

ue to learn about her and her

growing cubs. For now we

will hopefully be able to

monitor her through our

research cameras.

After analysing the first round of research camera photos, researchers

think that Ariun may indeed be a cat our field team nicknamed “Spooky

Kitty” due to the ‘surprised’ expression he always appeared to have in

his research camera photos. If Ariun and “Spooky Kitty” really are one

and the same, it means that Ariun is not a young cat, and we can classify his ranging patterns as those of a big, territorial male rather than a tran-

sient youngster. This month, Ariun has walked all the way from the

centre of Tost, close to the current base camp to west of Tosonbumba.

In one week alone, we walked over 110 km!

M9 has made his first ever excursion outside the Nemegt Mountains

since he moved there. He journeyed further northwest, but returned

within 5-10 hours.

Through our Long-Term Ecological Study in the Tost region of Mongolia, we are learning a great deal about the lives of wild snow leopards. Below are some exciting updates straight from the field!

An Update on the Cats:

A first analysis of research camera photos suggests that Lasya, whose adorable cubs we

were able to film this summer, is not the only recent mom in our study.

At least two other females appear to have been photographed with cubs as well! A first analysis

of the available images indicates that the additional cats with cubs may be Anu and F-9,

nicknamed Shinejh. Our scientists in the field are working on confirming their identity.

Khashaa continues to be in the small range towards the southern edge of

the Tost Mountains. She is spending a lot of time around one steep rugged

mountain towards the southern edge of her overall home range.

Update from the Field

Long-Term Ecological Study

Our long-term snow leopard study in Mongolia is a joint project of the Snow Leopard Trust, Panthera, and the Snow Leopard Conservation Fund and is in collaboration with the Mongolia Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism and the Mongolia Academy of Sciences. (more information can be found at www.snowleopard.org and www.panthera.org). Pg. 2

After an adventurous road trip, Snow Leopard Trust Field Scientist Örjan Johansson is back in the base camp of our Long Term

Ecological Study in Mongolia’s South Gobi – where the real challenges were only just beginning!

“The road trip to camp was rather eventful as we ended up in both thick fog and snowfall at the same time. The roads here are

dangerous to travel. As we left the paved road and started following the dirt tracks south the fog got thicker, for a while

everything was white – couldn’t tell where the sky ended and the ground began. With no visible tracks, I have no idea how our

driver Miji found his way – had I been driving, we would have ended up in Russia. Still, somehow we reached camp. We spent

the first days getting the ger in order and sorting all the capture gear.

Once that was done, we started hiking around in the canyons, looking for fresh snow leopard signs. We found fresh tracks from

a snow leopard in a canyon nearby, as well as a reasonable amount of scrapes and scent marks in the area. It doesn’t look like

there is a whole lot of activity in the area, but we should get a couple of cats at least. We finished building snares six days ago

and now we have thirteen of them set and waiting for a cat. Since then, not much has happened; we picked up Lasya’s collar a

few days ago. It had dropped on the exact date it was scheduled to, 18 months after I deployed it. That’s German

precision for you.

A few Cat Updates Continued…

F8 is using a small rugged area

towards the south of Tost Mountains.

Both she and F8 overlapped with

Ariun’s movements.

F7, nicknamed Agnes, is using a 25 km²

area in the Tosonbumba mountains and

based on a cluster of points, seems to have

made a kill towards the end of October.

Towards the end of the month, F9,

nicknamed Shinejh, has been explor-

ing outside her usual small ranges.

Aztai has limited his movements to the

southern badlands. He continues to partly

overlap with the previous locations of

Lasya before her collar fell off as

scheduled.

Sometimes a Working Motor is your Best Friend— Örjan returns to the Land of the Leopards

Update from the Field Long Term Study and Country Highlights

Pg. 3

The last days we have tried to get the vehicles in working condition. By changing parts between the two ATVs and the two bikes

we now have one ATV and one motorbike that work. Miji and I were working on the motorbike for several hours. At a point, we

had most of the bike in pieces, including the fuel line and carburator. This is a big thing for me, as I didn’t even know what a car-

burator was when I got here four years ago. Miji is good with engines and I have learned quite a bit about the bikes, so together we

managed to get the carburator to work again. I explained in my Mongolian “this-say-gas-now- (to) this” and so on.

Dr. Byron Weckworth, Regional Biologist for Panthera, my research partner, had a fever

today so I set out for the first kill site searches on my own. The weather is pretty cold, Miji

has piled up a gigantic amount of different kind of fuel for his stove. He says that it will be

the coldest winter in a long time. Not sure how he knows, but so far he is correct. Any-

ways, soon after I had visited the first successful hunting location (often referred to as a

kill site), which was a rather big Argali male that Ariun, one of the cats we’re following

with a GPS collar, had caught, it started snowing. I got to the second and third kill sites,

but on my way back from there, the snow picked up rather dramatically. In the end I

couldn’t see more than 2-300 meters.

Navigating your way out of the mountains is sort of dependent upon seeing the mountains, otherwise there is no way of telling where the valleys and passes are. It didn’t

worry me too much, until I got back to the bike and it refused to start. I hadn’t fine-tuned

the carburator and now it didn’t want to work in the cold. It was about 30 km to camp so

no way that I would make it back on foot before it got dark. I was preparing mentally to

spend the night in the mountains, wouldn’t be fun, but I’d be able to deal with it. Though,

at last the engine started. I guess Yamaha doesn’t joke when they write that only author-

ized dealers should work on the carburators…

It’s difficult to ride in snow because you don’t see the holes and rocks, but a couple of

hours later, after navigating the dirt bike through snow and snowdrifts, I reached camp.

Now, as I type, my hands have finally thawed out.

Tomorrow we will see if we have to dig the snare equipment out of the snow and hopefully we will soon catch and collar a cat.”

Until then, enjoy!

Örjan Örjan’s groundbreaking time and research is generously supported by Nordens Ark in Bohuslän, Sweden, and by Kolmården Zoo, in Norrköping, Sweden.

INDIA—A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Rishi Sharma

Update from the Field Snow Leopard Trust Country Highlights

Pg. 4

INDIA—A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (Continued)

Last month was witness to the first signs of the winter chill with night temperatures dropping

below zero. However, the chilly temperatures were mitigated by the excitement of progress

being made. This month, our team in India saw the initiation of a new program, and witnessed

the culmination of the first phase of a four month long survey project of potential snow leop-

ard habitat.

This new project proposes to study the change in distribution of snow leopard and its primary

prey species (Asiatic ibex and blue sheep) over the past thirty years through an extensive sur-

vey in the Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan landscapes of Himachal Pradesh. The initial sites

surveyed were the entire ecological unit of Greater and Trans-Himalayan habitats north of the

Pir-Panjal Range in Himachal Pradesh across the two districts Kinnaur and Lahaul & Spiti,

and Pangi Valley of Chamba District. This is very exciting for us as this project will produce

detailed maps of snow leopard range in a large part of its potential range in Himachal Pradesh.

This will help us identify conservation “hot spots” for snow leopard and areas that require

immediate attention from the conservation authorities.

We initiated the start of Snow Leopard Enterprises in the villages of Kibber and Chichim. Snow Leopard Enterprises is a conservation program that works directly with the people who share snow leopard habitat to create sustainable economic opportunities that re-

duce the motivation behind poaching. Most of the women in both Kibber and Chichim were extremely keen on being involved in this

initiative and discussed the various handicrafts they could make. They modeled for us the various clothes they made, treating us to a

Spitian-style fashion show. We are eager to take this forward in the coming months.

The team involved with the research cameras has finished deploying cameras in the

entire Upper Spiti Landscape (ca 2200 km²). Research cameras are being deployed

in various locations in the Upper Spiti Landscape to estimate the abundance of snow

leopards and better understand its habitat use. There was a moment of worry, when

one day two of the team members, Sushil and Tenzin, failed to return to a predes-

tined spot in time. As the nightfall approached, a rescue was mounted with rest of the team and a few helpful villagers. Two glistening head-torches at a short distance

in the quiet gorge brought much needed relief. We will be starting the wild prey

surveys and livestock census soon.

Ranjini Murali

The students pictured above are from one of the twenty schools where we have established

the Himalayan Nature Clubs. They are partaking in an activity called ‘Touch’ which

involves them in learning more about our environment by sharpening their five senses to feel

closer to nature. More than 400 students and about 20 teachers enthusiastically participated.

Update from the Field Snow Leopard Trust Country Highlights

Pg. 5

PAKISTAN – Nature Clubs Established

Broghil and Qur-uambar are two adjacent national parks, lying along the international border with Afghanistan. Elevation in these parks

range between 2,500-6,000 m and both parks encompass an area of 2,122 km2. There is no road access, settlements are scattered, and

major human related resource use relates to livestock grazing.

Geographical location, topography, and low human occupation presents area a promising refuge for snow leopards, though scientific explorations of this area in past have been limited. Motived by these factors, the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) started exploring this

area in 2011. Using signs as an indication for the presence of carnivores, occupancy surveys carried out in summer of 2011 confirmed

occupation of a diverse carnivore community, including snow leopard, brown bear, wolf, Himalayan lynx, and others.

The results of occupancy surveys provided stimulus and basis for more robust investiga-

tions. Aiming at confirming presence of carnivore species detected in sign-based occupancy

surveys, and estimating their abundance, an intensive camera study was conducted this year

in June-July by an experienced team of the SLF. A total of 80 camera stations were set up

over a period of 45 days, and each camera station remained active for 15 days. Different

lures were used to attract animals to the cameras. Capture success for carni-

vore species was divergent between the two parks. Snow leopard was pho-

to-captured only in Qur-uambar, whereas capture of brown bear and

wolf was higher in adjacent Broghil. Such a capture pattern matches well with the characteristic topography of the two parks. Gentle terrain, profuse

pastures and plateau like terrain of Broghil suits well to brown bears. On

the other hand deep gorges, cliffs and highly rugged terrain make Qur-

uambar more suitable for the snow leopard. The capture of rare and elu-

sive Pallas’s cat is another important success in this study. The status of

this species is not well known, and this was the first photo-capture of this

species in Pakistan. Photos of Kashmir flying squirrel, is another interesting

observation as the study area falls out of the published range for this spe-

cies. Photos of fox, stone marten, and golden marmot were more frequent.

Marmots seem to be more abundant in Broghil, and a previous study show

they serve as major protein source for brown bears in Pakistan.

Detailed analysis of the research camera, along with genetic analysis will

help estimate populations of the major carnivore species, however, overall

capture success was lower as compared to our previous study in the Khunjerab National Park. Present study was carried out in summer

when livestock related disturbance was very high in the area. This might have contributed to lower detection of carnivores, apart from

the fact that certain species (particularly snow leopard) might have lower densities in the Broghil-Qur-uambar.

The local community’s perception about carnivores was generally negative, as the human-carnivore conflict has high prevalence in the

both valleys, predominantly due to livestock predation. There were some reports of snow leopard and wolf poaching, which could not

be confirmed as people were reluctant to talk about that.

Conservation education and advocacy campaigns play vital role in equip-

ping people with the knowledge and skills to be active and authoritative

partners in understanding and managing the conservation issues. To incul-

cate a sense of stewardship and love for snow leopards and their fragile mountain ecosystem in the communities, especially school children of the

conservation program sites, nine nature clubs were established in Chitral.

Schools located in the program sites were selected in coordination and

consultations with the parent organizations and communities. The selected

schools were visited to select nature club student members and nature club

teacher leaders in collaboration with the school administration. We pro-

vided available resource material and stationery to each nature club and a

comprehensive action plan was developed and shared with the nature club

leader. The action plan consists of nature related and manageable activities

to be undertaken at school level. Furthermore, the nature club leaders

were briefed on the implementation of the action plan and reporting mech-anism. Lectures were delivered on the status of snow leopard and its eco-

logical importance to the nature club members in each school.