Sep. 19  – After a few years with very little rain here in Southern Mongolia, that all changed. This summer received plenty of it. Tost looks nothing like when we left in May – there are green plants, herbs and flowers everywhere. It must be a huge relief for all living things. Click to view slideshow. The cameras for the annual snow leopard survey of Tost were deployed in late August. We checked the two that sit in our trapping area when we arrived and noticed a new male. He has a very distinct spot pattern on his thigh. At first, we decided to call him The Sign because of that pattern.  M24 My thoughts often wander on the long travels here and while I was driving, I noticed all the purple flowers, thought about the rain, this new cat we’re calling The Sign and the idea that perhaps he is trying to take over The Dude’s range. (The Dude is the largest male here, or perhaps ‘the king’ of this area). I then realized that we should call the cat Prince after the musician who sang the hit song Purple Rain and briefly changed his name to a sign. So, we are calling this younger cat in the king’s realm, Prince, formerly known as The Sign. (Note: All cats get a ‘name’ when identified on camera. Because there are quite a few cats and some are just seen for a year as they are young cats passing through, these names tend to be improvised. If they end up being collared, they will get a Mongolian name.) Tomorrow, we will go out to the crater to see if we can find Presnel’s den. She gave birth in early May and has left the den by now. But we have a fairly precise location from her collar, so hopefully, we can find it and document what kind of den she used. Sep. 22 – We did find Presnel’s den. It is in the crater in these strange red, clay-shaped rocks (the same area where the BBC team filmed her for Planet Earth 3). We took some photos of that, too. Today, we also practiced setting up the ibex drop net with Buren at base camp. We placed some apples under the net to lure a goat in to practice collaring and releasing from the net. It worked well. And while I don’t think the goat will ever look at an apple the same way again, it didn’t seem too bothered.  Oct. 1 – Last night, we caught a new, young male snow leopard (M24). We think he is 3.5 years old, but it’s possible that he is only 2.5. This is the cat who had been captured (on camera) twice with the distinguished ‘sign’ on his flank who we decided to temporarily call Prince. He will ultimately receive a Mongolian name. M24 He is not fully grown yet (the cat, not the musician, even though he wasn’t very big either). His head hasn’t reached its full width, he weighed 37.7 kg and doesn’t have any scars on his face. He hid in some bushes when we arrived and didn’t try to leave (only younger cats have behaved like that in the past). We found a small gap in the bushes allowing us to dart him. He was caught in the snare we built for the first time this past spring. So far, it has caught three cats – pretty productive. It’s a tricky place and we had planted quite a lot of bushes to steer the cats in the right direction. As the saying goes – herding cats is not easy, so this takes time. When we do catch a cat, they destroy all our nicely planted bushes, so we’ll have some gardening to do later today. But all in all, it went extremely well!  (Why do we collar snow leopards? The data provide vital insights into snow leopard ecology and inform crucial conservation efforts to protect the species.) Assistant Director of Science, Dr. Gustaf Samelius documenting snow leopard rest sites with researcher Choidog Byambasuren and biologist Temuulen Olziibadrakh Oct. 2 – It’s been nice and warm here until a few days ago when temperatures dropped 20-25 degrees C. I never remember just how cold it gets on the motorbike and didn’t bring enough warm clothes for the first cold day. We are visiting M23’s clusters (sites where a collared cat has stayed for more than two hours). He resides about 1-1.5 hours east of our camp. Driving there is usually not too bad, but when heading home, you have to drive into the wind and the winds are extremely strong here. Örjan searching for snow leopard signs. M23’s collar sends locations to us twice weekly. When we plotted the most recent batch this morning, I realized that I had lunch about 80-100 m from M23 a couple of days ago. I didn’t know he was there at the time. I had found myself a really nice, wind-protected sunny cliff and sat there munching on some dried mango and then lay down and dozed off in the sun for a couple of minutes. Today, I went to the site where M23 had been during my lunch break and found the remains of an ibex. He was probably also having lunch at the same time I was. My lunch site was in full view for him, so he must have wondered what I was doing but didn’t bother to move. It’s a good thing that snow leopards are not overly aggressive. Fieldwork would be far less fun if you run the risk of having your intended lunch break end up with you being the lunch. I often wonder how many times I have been this close to them without knowing about it. I’m pretty sure that at least the older cats have seen us many times and must recognize me and Gustaf (clothes, motorbikes, etc). Oct. 6  – We collared a 2.5 year-old female ibex two days ago. Interestingly, she stepped in one of the snow leopard snares. We fitted the collar but didn’t do anything more than that other than check her legs carefully. We made sure all joints, bones, etc, were ok, couldn’t even find a scratch on her. Then she disappeared in a flash. I was sitting in front of her and there was an ibex-sized gap between Gustaf and me. For a split second, this gap was filled with an ibex, and then she was gone. I need to remember not to sit in front of them next time. They could accidentally run you over. Overall, it went very well. We observed her as she climbed a steep slope later and as far as we could tell, she moved as normal.  Oct. 7 – M24 appears to use The Dude’s territory, which is a risky move if the Dude is still around. Only time will tell if that’s a good idea or not. We collared him on Oct 1. We will pack up camp on Oct 14, so there’s less than a week left for collaring. There hasn’t been much activity in the area lately. We missed one cat when it rained and later got cold. The traps were frozen and this cat had the indecency to make scrapes on top of two of them. I don’t have very high hopes that we will catch anything more on this trip, but you never know. Oct. 8  – Obviously, I was wrong because we collared F12 this evening! She was born in 2015 to Anu who we have followed since she was a one-year-old. We’ve followed F12 and her sisters (Antoine and F11) via camera trap since they were six months old. Antoine resides to the east of us. F12 was first collared in 2018 but that collar failed after 1.5 months. We collared her a second time in 2022. F12 and her three cubs captured on camera in 2023 F12 has three cubs, born on May 17, 2023. All three were hovering around us during the entire collaring. They must have crossed the ravine we were sitting in several times because they would pop up here and there. The closest one was 10-12 meters away, peeking over a rock. Snow leopards seem to trust that they are invisible in darkness and these guys wanted to see what was happening to mom. A few times they called for her, a rather high-pitched short call. It’s very windy and quite cold tonight. It took some time for F12 to come around, so we folded the windbag over her and put a jacket on top and a soft bottle with warm water inside to keep her warm. It felt as if the cubs came closer when they couldn’t see mom anymore. Not sure if that is true or just a coincidence but we opened the bag and put our lights on her so they could see she was still there. It is quite humbling to have three snow leopards hovering around you this close.  And while we are always fully focused and devoted to the task in a capture, I must say that it adds some pressure to handle a female when her three cubs are watching this closely. Fortunately, it all went smoothly.  After all these years, this may have been my favorite snow leopard encounter. These cubs are pretty big, they should weigh 50-60 pounds now and even so, they are shy. Several times when I turned around, there would be a snow leopard sitting in front of me, and as soon as the light from my headtorch lit it up, it would look away. Want more fascinating stories like this? Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest field updates! UPDATE: M24 received his Mongolian name and will now be called Angarag (which means Mars).  Photos: SLCF and Snow Leopard Trust Acknowledgments: This long-term ecological study is in collaboration with Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation in Mongolia and Snow Leopard Trust, with special thanks to the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, the Government of Mongolia, and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences for their support. We would also like to acknowledge: National Geographic Society, Acton Family Giving, Bioparc Zoo de Doue la Fontaine, David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Idaho Falls Zoo at Tautphaus Park, John Ball Zoo, Kolmårdens Zoo, Korkeasaari Zoo, Nordens Ark, Parco Zoo Punta Verde, Play for Nature, Tierpark Berlin, The Big Cat Sanctuary/Wildlife Heritage Foundation, Tulsa Zoo, Whitley Fund for Nature, Zoo Basel, Zoo Dresden, Zoo New England and the many incredible partners who have supported programs like our Long-term Ecological Study and research in Mongolia since it began in 2008. We could not do this work without you. The post Exciting Field Updates from the “Snow Leopard Whisperer” appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

Below is a summary of some of the climate adaptation initiatives our team in Pakistan is helping to ethically implement with communities in snow leopard habitats. Water Management Many of our partner communities are within fragile, sub-alpine scrub ecosystems that have become severely degraded. To address this, SLF has partnered with Village Conservation and Development Organizations (VCDOs) to improve water management. Our team helps construct irrigation channels and install water transmission systems, ensuring water reaches the rangelands. By restoring these ecosystems through improved water access, we are assisting in regenerating vegetation, stabilizing soils and creating a healthier habitat for local wildlife. Establishment of Closures Natural forest regeneration in high-altitude regions faces numerous challenges, including unrestricted livestock grazing, harvesting of fodder and medicinal plants and deforestation for timber and fuelwood. These pressures make large-scale reforestation expensive and labor-intensive. Our team is partnering with the local communities to close off forest areas for 3-5 years through ‘social fencing’ to encourage natural regeneration. This allows forest areas to recover by preventing further degradation from grazing and logging. Community forest guards help protect these areas. Natural regeneration restores degraded landscapes at minimal cost and benefits local biodiversity by providing refuge for endangered plant and animal species. Conservation Tourism Our team has supported initiatives involving eco-friendly tourism facilities such as Tourist Information/Facilitation Centers, wildlife viewing points and glamping (luxury camping) sites with low environmental impact. Communities are supported in developing conservation tourism plans to ensure that the facilities contribute to environmental conservation while offering sustainable livelihood opportunities for local people. One aspect of this is replacing traditional cement structures with more low-impact and climate-adaptive designs, which helps promote responsible tourism that benefits the community and the environment. Promotion of Energy-Efficient Stoves and LPG One of the major conservation challenges in rural Pakistan is the reliance on forest wood for fuel. Our team has launched a program to enable local communities to access liquid petroleum gas cylinders and energy-efficient stoves to reduce dependency on forest resources. Through agreements with VCDOs, grants were provided to adopt energy-efficient technologies. This helps preserve forests and improve air quality and household energy efficiency, leading to better health and environmental outcomes. Rehabilitation of Barren Land through Solar Pumps Local people primarily rely on stream water for irrigation and drinking. However, water scarcity and unreliable access to water sources have posed significant challenges for agriculture. Upon requests from communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, our team conducted a detailed feasibility study with civil engineers to assess the potential of installing solar-powered pumps for irrigation. Agreements were signed with the communities through their respective VCDOs, and grants were obtained to help them procure the necessary materials and equipment. The installation of solar pumps has transformed the local agricultural landscape. Each pump benefits approximately 100 households and brings up to 80 hectares of barren land under irrigation. This initiative improves water security and boosts agricultural productivity, contributing to food security, income generation and environmental rehabilitation. Fruit Tree Plantations and Orchard Development To support climate adaptation and help diversify livelihoods, our team has initiated large-scale fruit tree plantation projects with communities. After conducting focus group discussions with community members that emphasized the involvement of women, our team collaborated with the country’s Agriculture Department to select fruit tree species that are well-suited to the region’s climate. Varieties such as walnut, cherry, pear, plum, apricot, grape and mulberry are among the preferred species. Agreements for fruit tree plantations are signed with VCDOs, and costs are shared. High-quality, grafted fruit plants are purchased from public and private nurseries, ensuring they are appropriate for the local environment. Community members receive training in orchard management, including planting, pruning and general care, to ensure successful implementation. The program empowers communities by enhancing agricultural productivity and promoting sustainable land use. Gabion Walls for Landslide Control Landslides are a common threat to communities in mountainous regions, often damaging valuable agricultural land and posing risks to local infrastructure. Our team has implemented a program for constructing gabion walls at critical sites prone to landslides. These walls, made from wire mesh filled with stones, act as barriers that stabilize the soil and prevent further erosion. The locations for gabion wall construction are carefully selected in consultation with local engineers and community representatives. By protecting community land from landslide damage, this intervention safeguards agricultural productivity and contributes to the long-term resilience of these vulnerable communities. These efforts try to address critical environmental and community challenges in high-altitude regions of Pakistan. They are helping local communities conserve biodiversity and build resilience against climate change. Initiatives like conservation tourism and fruit tree plantations foster sustainable livelihoods, while infrastructure projects like gabion walls protect vulnerable areas from natural disasters. These integrated efforts will contribute towards a sustainable future for mountain communities to coexist with snow leopards and other wildlife. Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest conservation updates! Photo credits: SLF-Pakistan, Sardar Jamal Khan Leghari (Jamal Leghari Photography) Acknowledgments: Financial and technical support were provided by the following groups: Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC), The Sabin Snow Leopard Grant Program, Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), Global Environment Facility (GEF) The post How Pakistan is Building a Climate-Resilient Future appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

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