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NEW FACES!WE BRING YOU MORE AMAZING IMAGES OF YOUR ADOPTED SNOW LEOPARDS

UPDATEFEBRUARY

2015 YO U R A D O P T I O N U PDATE

Snow leopards

A L S O I N S I D E

WILD WORLD – NEWS OF OUR WORK AROUND THE WORLDA BRAND NEW SECTION FOR OUR YOUNG ADOPTERS

GHANJENJWENGA’S ON THE PROWL

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he gorgeous Ghanjenjwenga

holds the record for being the first-ever snow leopard in Nepal to have a satellite-tracking collar. We helped to fit him with it around a year ago, and we’ve been monitoring his movements ever since. In your October update, we told you that this fleet-footed feline had visited India twice, reached the dizzy heights of 5,858 metres and clocked up 278 kilometres. But even this wasn’t enough!

Latest records show that Ghanjenjwenga has covered an astounding 945 sq km in total – that’s almost as far as walking from Land’s End to Edinburgh! He’s giving us a unique and fascinating insight into the snow leopard’s mysterious world, and we’ll use what we’re learning to help plan our conservation efforts.

945 SQ KMGHANJENJWENGA HAS COVERED A TOTAL OF 945 SQUARE KILOMETRES AND HE’S STILL ON THE MOVE!

ITCHY PAWSThere’s no stopping intrepid Ghanjenjwenga (pronounced Gang-jen-jer-wen-ga). He’s still roaming far and wide

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snow leopards and want to do everything we can to protect them. As well as inspecting the camera traps, we look for tell-tale signs that the cats have been around, such as droppings, scratches and pugmarks (paw prints).

Right now we’re analysing the camera trap photos as part of our long-term monitoring work. They’ll help us understand more about the snow leopards’ movements and behaviour, so we can go on tackling the threats they face. Thank you for making this possible through your snow leopard adoption. Identifying different snow leopards can be difficult compared to other big cats. Tigers have a unique set of stripes, while common leopards and jaguars have distinct spot patterns. But the snow leopard’s smoky grey-black rosettes can blend in with its long grey fur, and change shape with the cat’s body movements.

ake a look at these amazing photos and give yourself a huge pat on the back – because they were taken on camera traps you helped pay for.

Beautiful snow leopards are really shy and hard to spot (pardon the pun). But they don’t seem to mind having their photographs taken! We do our best to get as many pictures as we can, by setting up the cameras in places we know the cats often visit. The terrain is often steep and rocky, and it’s hard work carrying the equipment, but it’s worth it when we get results like these. Imagine trekking up and down steep mountainsides for hours at a time, often in the freezing cold. That’s what our SLCC teams are up against. But like you, we think the world of

IDENTI-CAT

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DAZZLING DOZEN

A TOTAL OF 12 SNOW LEOPARDS WERE PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE KANGCHENJUNGA CONSERVATION AREA – HOME OF YOUR ADOPTED CATS. SEVEN WERE PHOTOGRAPHED IN THE KHAMBACHEN VALLEY, THREE IN YANGMA AND ONE EACH IN GOLA AND RAMJER.

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S N O W L E O PA R D S

DID YOU KNOW? DESPITE THEIR NAME, SNOW LEOPARDS ARE MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE TIGER THAN ANY OTHER BIG CAT.

COMPILED BY SAMUNDRA SUBBA OF WWF-NEPAL. SAMUNDRA IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE SNOW LEOPARD CONSERVATION COMMITTEE (SLCC), WHICH YOUR ADOPTION HELPS SUPPORT

YOUR FIELDREPORT

PICTURE PURRFECT

Above: Some of the magnificent snow

leopards photographed by our camera traps

TRUE DEVOTION

DISCOVERY CHANNELGHANJENJWENGA’S COLLAR IS A VERY CLEVER PIECE OF KIT. IT’S PROGRAMMED TO RECORD HIS LOCATION EVERY FOUR HOURS AND ALSO HAS TEMPERATURE AND ACTIVITY SENSORS. DATA IS SENT TO A COMPUTER THROUGH A SATELLITE LINK SO RESEARCHERS CAN STUDY IT. THE COLLAR’S BATTERY SHOULD LAST UNTIL APRIL 2016, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING MORE OF GHANJENJWENGA’S ADVENTURES WITH YOU IN FUTURE UPDATES.

YOUR NEXT UPDATE >> IN YOUR JUNE UPDATE WE’LL BRING YOU MORE NEWS ABOUT YOUR AMAZING ADOPTED SNOW LEOPARDS, SO KEEP WATCHING THE POST.

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The markings on Ghanjenjwenga’s coat make great camouflage

SEEING REDBeautiful red pandas live in steep mountain forests where bamboo – their favourite food – grows. They’re very shy and secretive, so it’s quite rare to see them in the wild. Adults are about the same size as a pet cat. The pandas’ bushy, ringed tails can grow to 46cm long and they use them as cosy wraparound blankets.

he Kangchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA), where your adopted

snow leopards live, covers over two thousand square kilometres. It contains over 1,000 flowering plants, over 250 birds and 22 mammal species. It’s also home to remote communities who rely on raising cattle and small-scale farming for their food and livelihoods.

Snow leopards, other wildlife and local people all depend on the ecosystem around them staying healthy. Yet overgrazing of alpine pastures by domestic animals including cattle, yaks and goats is affecting animals the snow leopards naturally prey on, such as blue sheep and Himalayan tahr. As their natural prey numbers decline, the big cats are more likely to turn to prey (or predate) on domestic animals, which puts them at risk of retaliatory attacks by herders.

Your adoption funds lots of projects to strike a balance between the needs of people and snow leopards, and you can read more overleaf. You’re making a real difference to the snow leopard’s future. Thank you.

OUR SNOW LEOPARD EXPERT, JOHN BARKER, TELLS YOU WHY PROTECTING THE SNOW LEOPARD’S HABITAT IS SO VITAL

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ADOPTER INSIGHT

The KCA is home to remote communities

such as these herders

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WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO HELP PROTECT SNOW LEOPARDS?

I’ve come to realise just how vulnerable these beautiful

predators of the Himalayas are. Overgrazing by domestic livestock damages the fragile mountain grasslands, leaving less food for the wild sheep and goats that are the snow leopard’s main prey. They turn to domestic livestock instead, which can bring them into conflict with local people. But communities here also love the snow leopards, and want to help protect them.

WHAT PROGRESS ARE YOU MAKING?

We’re helping communities establish livestock insurance

schemes to compensate families for any animals they lose to snow leopards. People here are very poor and rely on their animals for food and income, so losing a yak can be devastating. We’ve also built corrals (enclosures) to keep cattle safe at night, and we’re getting local herders involved in monitoring the cats. We’re very proud that no snow

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leopards have been poached or attacked in the KCA in the past 18 months.

HOW ARE OUR SNOW LEOPARD ADOPTERS HELPING?

We still have lots of work to do, which is why we’re so very

grateful to have the support of WWF’s adopters. In the last year alone, they’ve provided funds to buy camera traps, a digital camera and other essential field equipment such as binoculars and tents. They’ve also paid for training sessions for SLCC members like me, and much more besides.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THIS YEAR?

We want to conduct more camera-trap surveys, and build

more predator-proof corrals. We urgently need things like powerful torches to scare the snow leopards away without harming them, and solar-powered lights to act as fences around the corrals. We’d also like to help more communities set up livestock insurance schemes.

Samundra is passionate about snow leopards and very knowledgeable too. We asked him to tell us more about his work, and how you’re helping to give these amazing cats a more hopeful future

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR YOU, FROM SAMUNDRA

A HUGE THANK YOU FROM EVERYONE OUT HERE IN THE FIELD. IT’S GREAT TO KNOW YOU

CARE ABOUT SNOW LEOPARDS, AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT. PLEASE KEEP

ON ADOPTING, BECAUSE EVERY PENNY COUNTS

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“WE’RE VERY PROUD THAT NO SNOW LEOPARDS HAVE BEEN POACHED OR ATTACKED IN THE KCA IN THE PAST 18 MONTHS.”

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ou’d have to look really hard to find anywhere as isolated as Humla. Best known for being the gateway to Mount

Kailash in Tibet, it’s Nepal’s remotest district, and one of the poorest. Many people living there are goat herders and follow a traditional, Buddhist way of life, respecting the spectacular beauty of their surroundings and the wildlife they share it with.

We’ve known since 2008 that snow leopards are living in the region, but there’s never been any scientific evidence – until now. We recently led a field trip to find out more about the snow leopard population in Humla and other districts in western Nepal. We set out to search the rocky terrain and found signs of the snow leopards’ presence, including pugmarks (paw prints), scats (droppings) and scratch marks. We collected 267 scat samples and the DNA is being analysed to identify individual cats. But we also made some less welcome discoveries.

SNOW LEOPARD SEARCH PARTY

During our survey we came across 35 traps. Rather than being there to capture snow leopards, we think the traps were set up by local people to catch blue sheep for meat. But of course the cats depend on blue sheep too, as their main prey. And a reduction in the number of prey is one of the main threats snow leopards face. We’re working with local communities across Nepal to raise awareness about the snow leopard’s plight, and how they can help improve things. And as poor as they are, villagers in Humla are keen to do what they can. In fact, they’ve already dismantled many of the traps.

Involving local people in this way can help encourage a positive attitude towards snow leopards. Thanks to adopters like you, we’ll go on working to make it happen.

We’ve boldly gone where few have gone before, in our quest to find more of these rare and beautiful cats

CAT CURIOSITY

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

INVOLVING LOCAL PEOPLE IN THIS WAY CAN HELP ENCOURAGE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS SNOW LEOPARDS

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WE’RE VERY PROUD THAT NO SNOW LEOPARDS HAVE BEEN POACHED OR ATTACKED IN THE KCA IN THE PAST 18 MONTHS

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Humla, near Mount Kailash is the most remote district in Nepal

Inset: We set out to search for elusive snow leopards

WE COLLECTED 267 SAMPLES DURING OUR

FIELD SURVEY

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To stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment andto build a future in which humans live in harmony and nature.

Why we are here

wwf.org.uk

To stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment andto build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

• YOUR SNOW LEOPARDS ADOPTION UPDATE • FEBRUARY 2015WWF.ORG.UK

Thank youSEND A MESSAGE TO THE SLCC KNOWING THAT YOU’RE THERE FOR THEM MEANS A LOT TO THE SLCC, SO WHY NOT SEND THEM YOUR PERSONAL MESSAGE OF SUPPORT? WE’LL FORWARD IT ON TO SAMUNDRA, AND PRINT A SELECTION IN YOUR NEXT ADOPTION UPDATE. EMAIL YOUR MESSAGE OF BETWEEN 50–100 WORDS TO MYADOPTION@WWF.ORG.UK WITH THE SUBJECT LINE ‘MY SNOW LEOPARDS – MESSAGE FOR RANGERS’

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