Summer 2025: The days we went to our school camp were the most interesting and unforgettable. The camp was located in the mountains, in a quiet area with tall junipers and clean air, a place where you can relax your soul. One morning, several students and our camp leader went on a hiking trip to the mountains. The sun was warm, the sky was clear, and the sounds of deer, marmots, and birds were lively; the surrounding air smelled of nature. As we stopped along the way for a drink and admired the nature, our leader said to us: Children, there are rare animals here, the most valuable of which is a snow leopard. It is a great happiness to see it! We all looked with interest and hope and continued on our way. After walking a long way, we came to a large rock and something unexpected happened. Farther away, on a high rock, stood a large, beautiful animal with white fur glistening. It noticed us, but looked at us calmly and without fear. Our guide whispered: It’s a snow leopard!  Click to view slideshow. We all stood there breathless, staring. The leopard was very beautiful, with a large, strong body, a long tail, and deep, intelligent eyes. It looked at us for a long time, then slowly turned around, jumped between the stones and disappeared. We will remember this day for our entire lives. Our guide explained to us: It is rare to see a snow leopard in the wild. This is a gift from nature to us! After that day, we deeply understood that we must always remember the snow leopard, protect it, and preserve nature. This event became the greatest memory of the camp. We asked the students what they enjoyed about their time at camp, if they think coexistence with wildlife is possible and how they define nature. Read some of their insightful responses below: Click to view slideshow. Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest updates from the field. Photo credits: Snow Leopard Trust, SLF-Kyrgyzstan The post An unforgettable event at camp: The day we saw a snow leopard appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

“Ungulate” comes from Latin and simply describes mammals with hooves. Ibex, gazelles, camels and musk deer are all ungulates found in snow leopard range. Our researchers have identified three of these ungulates as the most crucial prey for snow leopards: ibex, argali and bharal. These majestic, mountain-dwelling goat and sheep species are often referred to as mountain monarchs and are characterized by their herbivorous diets, cloven hooves, and large horns. Click to view slideshow. Studying mountain ungulates is a critical component of protecting snow leopards, as these hoofed (hooved?) animals are the primary prey across their range. A healthy population of wild ungulates is one of the most critical signs that a given area can support a stable population of snow leopards. While they may not seem as glamorous as a magnificent big cat, these unassuming mammals are a favorite among many of our scientists and researchers and are an important part of the landscape and human history.  In the entire animal world, if there is one group of animals that most significantly impacted the course of human civilization, it is perhaps these largely unsung denizens of the high mountains. They fundamentally restructured ancient human societies and set them off on the path that defined who we are today. – Charu Mishra, Executive Director That’s quite the praise for sheep and goats! However, with billions of people around the world, both today and throughout history, dependent on livestock for their livelihood, we believe it’s justified. So, how much do you know about the ungulates that have shaped human history? Test your hoof and horn knowledge and share your score with us in the comments! (answers revealed at the end) QUIZ START Photo credits: Behzad Larry, Snow Leopard Trust, SLCF-Mongolia, SLF-Kyrgyzstan, SLF-Pakistan, NCF-India The post What’s an ungulate? appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

In the wild, very little is known about snow leopard birth rates, litter size and survival rates. Understanding this reproductive data is crucial for determining whether populations can sustain themselves through various environmental pressures and fluctuations. For example, what are the chances that a snow leopard population will be able to persist if some individuals are lost to disease, poaching or a decline in prey populations?  Given these knowledge gaps, the opportunity to document wild cubs in their den is invaluable to science and conservation strategies. Snow Leopard Trust Senior Scientist Dr. Örjan Johansson explains why we visit den sites of GPS-collared cats and what happens during the process: We primarily use motion-activated camera traps to quantify litter size and cub survival. However, cubs don’t start accompanying their mothers regularly until they’re about five months old, which means we rarely observe them in our cameras before this age. We can calculate survival rates between 6 months and 18 months of age, since cubs stay with their mothers for 20-22 months. But the only way to assess litter size, survival rates from birth to 6 months, or whether any litters are lost at a young age (before 6 months) is by visiting dens to count the cubs directly. Cub survival in other large cats can be rather low in the first months of life. For example, common leopards can lose more than 50% of their cubs before 4 months of age due to infanticide. We believe snow leopards differ from other big cats in that infanticide appears to be very rare. To confirm this, we need to estimate cub survival from birth or soon after. Unlike other big cats, snow leopard mating is highly seasonal and only occurs from January to March. After a three-month gestation period, cubs are born between April and June. In the days before giving birth, females may restrict their movements somewhat, perhaps while searching for a den site or because they’re too heavy to hunt effectively in steep terrain. Snow leopards appear to select caves in terrain that’s too steep for wolves but not so steep that cubs will fall when they start walking. However, there doesn’t seem to be a fixed rule for what makes an ideal den, and perhaps any sheltered location will work. When the female is in the den, the ‘roof’ prevents the GPS collar from communicating with the satellites, which means that for us, the female ‘disappears’ when she gives birth and in the following days of intensive nursing. We check locations of our collared females more or less every day during the denning period to detect any sign of denning as early as possible. Ideally, we want to visit the cubs when they are roughly three weeks old. At that age, they are fairly big (1.5-2 kg), the bond between mother and cubs is fully developed and yet the cubs are not large enough to crawl/walk and hide when they hear us approaching the den. Within a few days of giving birth, the female starts leaving her cubs in the den and going out to hunt for prey. When we plot the GPS locations from her collar and connect them with lines, a pattern similar to a bicycle wheel emerges—with the den as the hub and the spokes showing her movements back and forth between kill sites and the den. This makes it relatively easy to identify the general area where the den is located, though pinpointing the exact location can be challenging since we don’t receive GPS signals when the female is inside the den. This summer, F12 gave birth on June 1 and F19 gave birth on June 11. We were fortunate this year to receive many GPS locations concentrated in a small area for both females, allowing us to narrow down potential den locations to approximately 30 x 30 meters for each site. On our first day in Tost, we planned to find observation points far enough from the dens to pick up radio signals from the females’ collars without disturbing them. This would help us determine whether they were in the dens or away hunting. We obviously need to wait for them to leave before we can safely approach the den sites. We drove to F12’s area first. Despite listening from locations where we should have picked up signals, we couldn’t detect her, so we hiked closer. When we were 400 meters away from the den and still receiving no radio signals, we concluded she was away.  Once we found the den, we gently collected the cubs and placed them in a burlap bag—they typically relax and stay calm when it’s dark and they’re together. F12 had two cubs, a male and a female, both weighing 1.8 kg and in good health at 28 days old. Besides counting, weighing, and determining sex, we collect saliva swabs for DNA analysis and insert tiny microchips under the skin that enable us to identify them if we capture them years later as adults for collaring purposes. The tagging only takes a few minutes and we try to disturb as little as possible. Click to view slideshow. After finishing at F12’s den, we drove to F19’s location to listen for signals. She was also away, but we decided not to enter because it was getting late and the VHF equipment would shut down 50 minutes after we arrived. Using range finders and a compass, we assessed the bearing and distance to the suspected den and got a good look at the area, identifying three possible caves.  Up until this point, F19 had been leaving the den during daytime for the past four days, feeding on a huge 13-year-old ibex male that one of our other collared snow leopards, M24 Angarag, had killed on June 23rd. F19 found him at the kill site two days later, and they fed together for three days. (M24 is relatively young and unlikely to be the father of these cubs. The similarly-sized F19 probably took advantage of an easy meal near her den and may not have given the younger male much choice about sharing.) This map shows the movements of F19 for a month and M24 during the time they both visited the ibex kill. Lines connect consecutive locations and do not depict exact travel routes. We don’t receive locations when the female is in the den, which is why you don’t see lines going to and from the den. (This map does not contain any identifying features that could lead to the discovery of the den site.) For the following three days, she remained in her den, so we didn’t approach. But on July 3rd, F19 was away when we arrived at our listening site. We found the suspected den area, which was considerably steeper and higher up than F12’s location. Her three cubs were in a cave—two males and one female—all weighing 1.7 kg and appearing to be in good health. Following our visits, we confirmed that both females returned to their dens and continued using them. We always monitor the sites afterward to ensure our careful methodology preserves normal denning behavior patterns. (Note: We do not disclose their locations or provide maps that could be used to identify where the dens are located.) In a world where snow leopards face mounting threats from illegal hunting, climate change, habitat loss, and retaliatory killing for livestock predation, every snow leopard cub born in the wild matters. These are only the 6th and 7th den visits of wild snow leopard cubs since our long-term study launched in 2008 (all of them in Tost, Mongolia). Indeed, they are the only den visits scientists have ever documented worldwide. Data from these rare encounters is vital for understanding snow leopard ecology and making informed conservation decisions to secure their future. You can help snow leopard cubs in the wild by adopting your own plush cub. For a limited time, you’ll receive an exclusive photo print of the wild cubs in this story as a thank you for your support. All adoptions fund our conservation efforts. Photo credits: Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation/Snow Leopard Trust Acknowledgements: 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: 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, National Geographic Society, 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 5 wild snow leopard cubs found thriving in secret mountain dens appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

With complex, sprawling ranges across the high mountains of South and Central Asia and low population densities, snow leopards are an elusive species. Over the last decade, however, urban centers and communities surrounding their habitats have become increasingly connected, with many more investments in infrastructure on the horizon. How can new linear infrastructure—including roads, railways, and power lines—meet human needs while protecting snow leopards, their prey, and the fragile ecosystems they depend on to survive?  The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP), an alliance of the 12 countries comprising the snow leopard’s range, formed a working group of scientists and conservationists to create guidance for how infrastructure development can integrate protections for these big cats. Led by the International Snow Leopard Trust, WWF, and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, the working group presented a guidance document, Guiding the Future of Linear Infrastructure Development in Snow Leopard Landscapes, at the 9th GSLEP Steering Committee Meeting in Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyz Republic, in June 2025, attended by environment ministers or their representatives.   The document provides initial recommendations for how snow leopard range country governments can use avoidance and mitigation techniques to address the impacts of infrastructure development, building on a policy advisory released at the GSLEP Steering Committee Meeting last year. The recommendations reduce risks to local communities, wildlife and ecosystems, and even the infrastructure itself. The document also identifies knowledge gaps that require additional research—for example, understanding what structures and conditions would work for snow leopards and using experimental and field-based studies to design effective and context-specific mitigation measures.  Documented by a camera trap, a snow leopard walks next to a road in Pakistan. © WWF-Pakistan / Gilgit-Baltistan Parks and Wildlife Department How is infrastructure impacting snow leopard habitat? Infrastructure serves as the backbone of our societies, delivering basic necessities like the roads we travel on and the electricity that powers our homes and livelihoods. However, linear infrastructure poses an array of threats to snow leopards. Habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting and trade, wildlife-vehicle collisions, and other forms of human-wildlife conflict—along with the introduction of feral dogs, pathogens, and pollutants—are some of the ways in which roads, rail, fencing, and other forms of linear infrastructure cause landscape-level changes that lead to major environmental disturbances. Climate change exacerbates these threats, putting linear infrastructure projects at high ecological and economic risk.   To avoid causing significant problems for biodiversity, particularly wildlife, and harming the communities it is intended to serve, the coming wave of development must be built sustainably and strategically. It must also integrate the values, knowledge, and perspectives of Indigenous peoples and local communities—who are often the people most affected by this development—while being sensitive to sites of cultural importance.   The new guidance is a crucial step in helping policymakers, engineers, and conservationists address the threats to the magnificent snow leopard as the demand for new infrastructure spreads across their habitat. As an umbrella species, snow leopards are an indicator of the health and stability of their ecosystems. Protecting these big cats also protects the region’s biodiversity and natural services—like clean air and water—for local communities and people across the globe.  Impacts of the main forms of linear infrastructure found in snow leopard landscapes. What’s in the guidance?  The guidance describes initial strategies and interventions at each stage of the infrastructure project lifecycle to implement the mitigation hierarchy—a four-step framework to avoid, manage, and reduce negative environmental impacts and protect and promote biodiversity and ecosystem health. The goal is to establish practices that avoid areas of high snow leopard use and value; mitigate the impact of linear infrastructure where avoidance is not possible or existing structures impede the natural flows of ecosystems; and restore habitats where development has caused disruptions. The recommendations also include maintaining the needs and values of local communities and environmental sustainability at the center of decision-making during infrastructure projects and establishing long-term monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures.  The steps of the mitigation hierarchy. Different institutions depict the mitigation hierarchy in different ways, but the underlying principles are fewer negative actions and more positive actions. The document also identifies knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future work. These include mapping all forms of linear infrastructure across snow leopard ranges and establishing stronger baseline data on snow leopard movement and habitat corridors.     By engaging decision-makers and practitioners from all sectors involved in infrastructure development in snow leopard range countries, these measures and future research will not only protect snow leopards and their prey but also support the human communities living in snow leopard ranges and preserve ecosystem services essential to people all over the world.   This article was originally published on worldwildlife.org.   Read the guidelines here. Camera Trap Photo: © WWF-Pakistan / Gilgit-Baltistan Parks and Wildlife Department Cover Image: © naturepl.com / Sandesh Kadur / WWF Figure 2: From Guiding the Future of Linear Infrastructure in Snow Leopard Landscapes, Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). Figure 4: From Guiding the Future of Linear Infrastructure in Snow Leopard Landscapes, Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). Mitigation Hierarchy: From Guiding the Future of Linear Infrastructure in Snow Leopard Landscapes, Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP). The post Designing infrastructure with snow leopards in mind appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

SLF’s biannual vaccination drive covered 19 villages along seven valleys in Upper and Lower Chitral, addressing the seasonal health needs of livestock in these mountain communities. The campaign focused on the preventive treatment of critical livestock diseases that pose serious threats to livestock and rural livelihoods. Key vaccines administered during this round included Enterotoxemia (ETV), Black Quarter (BQV), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), and Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP). This vaccination program is uniquely community-driven, responding directly to the expressed needs and requests of Snow Leopard Conservation Organization (SLCO) members. By aligning with local priorities, SLF has ensured a responsive and need-based approach to veterinary support. Livestock are a cornerstone of rural life in Chitral, playing a vital role in ensuring food security, generating income and providing agricultural labor. However, outbreaks of diseases like FMD and BQV can severely undermine these benefits by: Reducing milk and meat production Impairing animal growth and reproduction Causing livestock mortality Restricting market access due to disease-related quarantines Vaccination remains a cost-effective and sustainable solution to counter these challenges. Through this initiative, we are supporting our community partners to: Prevent disease outbreaks and livestock loss Boost animal productivity, enhancing household income Reduce antibiotic use, contributing to antimicrobial resistance control Promote food security through a stable supply of animal products Build resilience of vulnerable households against animal health shocks Strengthen human-wildlife coexistence by minimizing disease transmission risks  The second round of vaccinations will be held later in the year. The team will also continue to organize awareness sessions focused on livestock management, disease prevention, and community-led solutions to veterinary challenges. “Healthy livestock herds are essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems and boosting the livelihoods of the mountain communities. The biannual vaccination drives launched under our Ecosystem Health Program ensure peaceful coexistence between agropastoral communities and predators in Pakistan’s high mountains. By safeguarding rural incomes, we help secure a future for both people and Pakistan’s iconic mountain wildlife.” – Dr. Jaffar Ud Din, Deputy Director, SLF Protecting livestock from disease creates conditions where communities can better tolerate the presence of snow leopards and demonstrates how conservation success depends on supporting the people who live alongside wildlife every day. This story first appeared in the May issue of Peaks’ Whisper. Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest updates from the field. Photo credits: SLF-Pakistan Acknowledgments: We appreciate the valuable support and collaboration of the SLF program site communities, the Wildlife Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Livestock Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in facilitating the successful implementation of the vaccination drive. The post A Surprising Conservation Tool: Livestock Vaccinations appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

“I’m a postdoc at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, where I recently received a 4-year grant to study how large carnivores behave around human activities. My research focuses on three species—snow leopards, brown bears, and grey wolves—to understand whether these animals make calculated decisions when approaching human settlements. Essentially, do they weigh the benefits of finding food (like livestock) against the risk of being killed by humans? I’m collaborating with three established research projects that have been tracking these animals and studying their hunting patterns for years. Through this work, I became involved with the Snow Leopard Trust’s Long-Term Ecological Study in Tost, Mongolia. We’ll analyze GPS data from collared snow leopards to better understand the relationship between these cats and local people, specifically examining what drives snow leopards to prey on livestock of herding communities.  April 24 – following from the right distance (cluster checks) We arrived at Snow Leopard Trust base camp after almost two days of travel across the steppes of southern Mongolia. These incredible Tost mountains will be our home for more than a month. Snow leopards in Tost frequently rest up high, close to mountain peaks. Reaching those GPS clusters recorded by their collars is often exhausting. As you get closer, you look for signs of the snow leopard and try to understand why it passed through there and chose that spot. It appears to me that, like their domestic cat cousins, snow leopards might love high places where they can watch everything from above. From there, they can see if prey is nearby, or if another leopard or a shepherd with goats is passing through. It’s a bit like playing a smart detective game, trying to figure out what happened when the snow leopard was in that place. Sometimes it’s hard to tell and you can only guess. Other times, clear signs are left behind, telling the story step by step. You imagine a beautiful snow leopard moving among the rocks, stepping silently, so agile in this rocky landscape that’s almost impossible for us humans to navigate.  April 25 – outsmarted by our wild relatives To me, animals seem to understand patience far better than we humans do. Even though we do our best to observe, study, and understand them without disturbing them, it’s likely they do the same with us. They probably watch and study our movements around them, trying to figure out who we are and whether we’re a threat. We follow their tracks, collect their droppings, spy on them with binoculars, scopes and place camera traps in strategic spots to understand their behavior and social lives. One moment in particular during these 40 days reminded me of how much we watch each other, and how often our wild cousins outsmart us. It was a hot midday, Gustaf and I were out visiting a GPS cluster from M23, a snow leopard we’ve been studying closely through cluster checks during this spring field trip. The day before, M23 had spent the afternoon on a mountaintop before moving on, so we went to check what he had been doing there. We explored the area and found signs of his presence (scats, scrapes on the ground). He most likely rested on the rocks. Tired and hot, we sat down on those rocks for a couple of minutes, filled out our protocol, and looked across the valley. We joked that M23 might be watching us from the peaks right in front of us. Then we hiked back down. When we returned to base camp, Örjan greeted us with a smile. He told us the new GPS points had just come in—and, sure enough, M23 had been exactly where we imagined him: across the valley, just 500 meters away from us. He had spent the entire day resting up there. A few days later, we visited that new cluster of GPS locations and found a beautiful bed of small stones and matted grass, with a few snow leopard hairs. It was sheltered from the wind and perfectly positioned at the top of the ridge, giving M23 a perfect view of the whole valley—and the two funny humans wandering below. April 30 – ibex rocks We are attempting to capture ibex, continuing a long-term effort started many years ago by this research project. They have tried many different methods and tricks to attract them but water seems to be the main way to succeed. It is not only the water itself but a very subtle and complex combination of conditions that can make an ibex capture successful, including the stage of the vegetation in the mountains, the routine of finding a reliable source of water in that spot, plus many other factors that increase the challenge. The team built a box trap using a model from Gran Paradiso National Park, now placed in Tost.  Hopefully, this will be one of the keys to capturing this fascinating mountain ungulate. We are in place, with our radios and capture equipment at hand, ready to be used in case an ibex gets in the box trap to drink. The wait feels endless. I keep looking at the same mountain slope, scanning it with my binoculars – rock by rock, meter by meter – searching for any sign of the ibex. It’s a test of patience and determination.  Every moment, I hope they will appear. I start to imagine: “It will come out from behind that sharp rock, or maybe from behind that bush. I’m sure it will show up on the next scan with the binoculars.” But nothing. The rocks are always the same, same place, same shape. Only the angle of the sunlight changes, casting new shadows that trick my eyes. They make me think I’ve seen an ibex, but it’s just the same rock from two hours ago. The complex geology of this place, with all its different colors of rocks, creates animal-like shapes – but they’re just rocks, optical illusions. May 1 – the night of the snow leopard The sun starts to set, and slowly we shift from golden light to the hour of the blue mountains, when the different layers of peaks overlap like stage curtains, getting ready for the night’s show. This is when the snow leopard’s hour begins. As the light fades, it’s their time to move, to cross through areas that are too exposed and risky during the day. In the valley, between the mountains, we’ve set traps to capture the leopards that pass through. These are passage zones, transition points, the borders between different leopard territories—strategic places to move from one peak to another across this rugged landscape. It takes a lot of care and experience to place the traps in just the right spots—on trails and corners where a leopard might step and place its paw exactly where the trap is. It’s a great privilege to be here with Örjan and Gustaf, to watch their careful work and be a small part of it. When that last bit of sunlight fades from the roof of the ger, your heart starts to beat faster—because in that moment, the chances of capturing a snow leopard suddenly rise. Dinner is in the making, the atmosphere is relaxed, but in the background, like a soundtrack, everything is more than ready in case the alarm goes off. The wait stretches into the night. During the first few nights, I had trouble falling asleep, even with the deep exhaustion that new places and new adventures put on my body. I was waiting, ready to meet my first snow leopard. May 9 – fragile realities It’s incredible to be immersed in this reality thanks to the research project I’ve just joined. So many years of work, dedication, collaboration, and the careful weaving of presence, relationships and trust. Last night, after a beautiful dinner shared by Swedes, Mongolians, British (Fiona, the British Ambassador, and Olli), and one Italian, I stepped out of the ger to catch the sunset light—and I was moved by the sight of the mountains turning blue in the fading light. I felt part of something much bigger: a major effort to protect the snow leopard and support the local communities of livestock herders. As Bayara said this morning, right after a successful snow leopard capture, this research project with collared snow leopards teaches us so much about their behavior and ecology, which until recently was largely unknown. That knowledge plays a vital role in understanding how to coexist with this animal who shares the mountains with herders, two fragile realities living alongside each other.  May 12 – Entering the snow leopard’s mind Snow leopards are habitat specialists. They are not satisfied with just any landscape, like a wolf might be, but are closely tied to a particular environment: the mountains. We don’t know exactly why, but we believe it’s linked to their behavior, ecology and the way they live. Snow leopards move through peaks and valleys, exploiting the morphology of the landscape to spot prey and stay out of sight, to hunt and to rest. Every part of the landscape plays a role in their lives. They use high ridges to travel, rest safely, and raise cubs in sheltered dens. Steep slopes make excellent hunting grounds, where the snow leopard ambushes its prey and chases it down into narrow ravines lower in the valley, where the prey can lose speed—and with it, its life. These narrow canyons also offer easy passage and small natural water sources. But how do we study all of this? How do we come to know where snow leopards hunt, rest, make dens, and raise their young? There are different techniques, and among them, GPS collars give us detailed and incredibly valuable information. They open a window into the life of such an elusive species, often called the ghost of the mountains. So, where do you start? It’s a slow process, with many steps that build on each other. As Örjan told me, you first have to understand how snow leopards move through the mountains, their travel routes, and how they use rocks and natural trails to mark their territory. Even before building and placing any traps, everything started with exploring these mountains, looking for traces of the snow leopard’s passage. It was a strategy built on patience and time—a lot of time. You can’t search the entire landscape, so you choose the most likely areas, drive in as far as you can, and then hike. Year after year, they’ve learned to enter the mind of the snow leopard, to understand where it might walk. Trapping is a craft that blends animal behavior and careful prediction; a few centimeters can make all the difference. There are two key parts: the macro and the micro habitat. The macro habitat is the general area, the travel routes that snow leopards use to move through the mountains, for example, a valley that cuts between peaks. The microhabitat is the exact spot where you place the trap. There have to be signs that snow leopards use that space, and it needs to be a safe location, without sharp rocks, so the animal won’t get hurt if caught. The trap must sit on a natural path where a snow leopard would choose to pass. These are almost always right up against a rock wall on the side of a canyon or valley, where snow leopards leave signs: urine, scats, or scrapes on the ground. After years of experience, failed attempts and successful ones, they have learned how to find the ideal combination of micro and macro.” Thanks to Cecilia for sharing her experience with us. This fieldwork in Tost represents more than just data collection—it’s a testament to the power of long-term research partnerships and the patient dedication required to understand some of our planet’s most elusive species. We’re not only advancing our scientific understanding of snow leopards, but also working toward solutions that support both wildlife conservation and the communities that share these stunning landscapes.  Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest updates from the field. Photos: Cecilia Di Bernardi and Oliver Wearn for SLT The post Chasing Shadows: 40 Days at a Snow Leopard Research Camp appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

Continued from May 2025   Field Update from May 11 We collared another female two days ago. I was hoping we would have received locations from the cat by now, but have not heard from the collar yet. Nothing strange, really. The collars try to send data every 25th hour, so only one communication opportunity has been missed. I may have buried the lede here. The big news is that we collared another female on May 9.  She is most likely a 2-year-old. Her ID is F20. Bayara was in camp and could join us, which was the best part of the whole experience! Everyone was so happy she could finally be with us during a collaring. She named the cat Gunj, which means Princess in Mongolian. It was really special for Bayara – as she put it, “ I was privileged to be there to witness my first snow leopard in the wild since I started working for snow leopard conservation in 1998. It was a big day for me.” We’re eager to see if F20 could be a sibling to F16. Unfortunately, it seems like the cameras deployed in F12’s range in last autumn’s survey didn’t work.  So we may not have any photos of her mother, F12, and these cubs when they are big. We’ll check to see if Buren had any cub cameras in her area. If these have been collected, then we may have photos of the litter. The capture was uneventful, which is obviously what we want. We caught her in the same snare where we caught F16 and F19 (the second time). It was also an early morning. I had said that we would carry the cat away from the snare if we caught another one to give the nesting wheatears some peace, but too many people were joining us to start carrying the cat. The birds were actually relatively invisible. Perhaps the people kept them in check. (In case you missed the pied wheatear drama, see part 1 of this field update.) Here you can see Ollie, Cecilia and me shading the cat from the sun. She woke up shortly after the photo was taken and looked back over her shoulder at us. When I put a hand on her shoulder, she lay down again. I gave the antidote and when we left, she just walked away. Then the wheatears appeared and started harassing and diving in on her. I feel a bit sorry for them, but it must also be quite a power rush for those two little birds to ’scare’ away a snow leopard from their territory three times in a bit more than a week. Pied wheatear Field Update from May 12 We received locations from Gunj’s collar today. She has travelled north and is more or less in the middle of the crater. She and F16 have travelled north parallel to each other and F16 is currently just west of the crater, almost at the edge of Tost. She’ll have to turn around now or cross over to Nemegt.  Field Update from May 13 All three females collared this spring have made kills and are moving normally. Gunj (F20) must have made a kill in the crater, see map below. She moves back and forth between the kill where we found some pieces of bone and a daybed in the lower left corner. There is no scale, but the ‘kill cluster is about 15 x 15 m. NOTE: Depredation incidents like this underscore why reducing livestock losses and creating pathways for coexistence are central to our conservation approach throughout snow leopard range—supporting both snow leopard protection and community livelihoods. Field Update from May 15 We finally collared an ibex female today (ID IF11). She was waiting at the well when we arrived and went into the trap about 15 minutes after we had set up. She looked at the trap for a long while, but once she had decided, she walked in quickly and lay down to drink. From a scientific perspective, I should have dropped the doors immediately, but I didn’t have the heart to do that, so instead I tried to count to ten and then released the doors so she would have time to get some sips at least. I didn’t have to worry because she was very relaxed in the trap. She walked back and forth once when the doors closed and then lay down to drink again. The capture went smoothly. We learned a lot that will help us perfect the technique. She is lactating and we spotted a couple of kids (possibly hers) plus some other ibex higher up. She is the 14th ibex we’ve collared and the first that we’ve captured in the cage trap we built in 2017. Conditions are not ideal since it hasn’t rained and there is a fair bit of green grass, so the ibex don’t need to drink as often as they do before the grass emerges. If we had timed this better, we would have caught more, but we have learned a lot and are hopeful for the next trip. Since the ibex is a mom, Cecilia (a postdoc student working with us) named her Mama Mia, which means “my mother” in Italian. It’s also an Italian expression of surprise or excitement. We’ll call her Mia for short. Note that the Satellite communication is not activated, so it may be a few days before we get locations. She was in perfect shape when she left us. (read Cecilia’s field update here) Final field update Well, to wrap things up, we’ve collared ​​three snow leopards, one ibex, visited 46 clusters and had the pleasure of hosting the British ambassador and her team, who stopped by to see what we’re up to out here. Not a bad few weeks in the field. Buren Nyam, Gustaf Samelius, Örjan Johansson, Choidog Byambasuren listening for signals from a collar. WHAT HAVE THE COLLARED ANIMALS BEEN UP TO SINCE WE LEFT? When our science team returned from the field, they began piecing together the movements of these elusive cats. The maps below reveal each animal’s story through digital breadcrumbs in the form of GPS data points—every dot marks a location in space and time, every cluster of dots shows a hunting ground or resting spot. Together, these data points paint a picture of how these cats navigate their world, revealing the invisible boundaries of their home ranges and the hidden patterns that govern their daily lives. Snow Leopards F12 Wilian (red) F12 started moving outside her territory in late autumn, making several long-distance travels to the northern part of Tost. We don’t know if this was to introduce her cubs to the area before they left her to start their independent lives, or if she has been ousted from her territory. Her grown cubs left her sometime this winter.  Since then, she has been back in her normal range but also travelled outside of it. She may currently be denning, or she simply killed a very large prey. It is a little too early to tell just yet. If she is denning, she is outside of her territory, which would indicate that she has lost it. F16 Oluula (orange) F16 is Wilian’s (F12) daughter. She was collared in April 2025 at two years of age. She travels around over a large portion of Tost, apparently looking for a vacant area to settle in. We are eager to see where she will end up. F19 (purple) This is a grand-cub to the first female we collared, Suhder (F1). F19 was born in 2020. Her mother was never collared, but in the camera database, she is named Guierrero. We have not detected Guierrero on camera in a few years and believe she has passed away. While we do not know her exact territory, the camera data indicates that F19 has inherited roughly the same area.  F20 Gunj (pink) This is another two-year-old female we collared in the same site as F16. We think they are sisters, but we need better photos to confirm this. She left Tost and crossed about 40 km of steppe before reaching Nemegt, the mountain range North of Tost, a few days after collaring. We are very eager to see where she will settle down. Hopefully, we can identify her in the cameras to determine where she was raised. It’s possible she came from Nemegt, made a short visit to Tost and then returned. But she could also be one of F12’s cubs. M23 Salkh (blue) M23 remains in his territory in the eastern part of Tost. He covers about 1/3 of the southern mountain range, which is the average-sized territory for an adult male. M23 has a habit of covering his territory in clockwise ‘circles’. We have never seen a snow leopard with such regular movement patterns before. Most likely, the shape of the territory creates this type of movement. M24 Angarag (green) M24 is likely 4 years old now. He still moves around over a large portion of Tost, the movement pattern suggests that he has not found a vacant place to settle in.   NOTE: Why we collar cats Tracking snow leopards reveals crucial information about these elusive animals that we couldn’t learn any other way. The collars, typically programmed to detach after 20 months, provide valuable information that directly shapes our conservation strategies to protect this endangered species. Ibex IF10 Emma Emma remains in the same area where she was collared in autumn 2024, close to our old Base Camp. She gave birth to a kid in early April. Her GPS data showed that she stayed high up in rugged terrain, a common antipredator strategy for ibex females with newborn kids. They use terrain that wolves and foxes have problems navigating. We saw the two of them on May 7th. Once the kids are fast and agile enough to escape onto the cliffs if a predator is detected, the females also use gentler slopes with better grazing. We saw this in Emma’s movements in early May.  IF11 Mia  Mia was collared in Spring 2025. She resides in the mountains surrounding the southern part of East Valley, where we collared snow leopards in spring. She also has a kid. We can’t say too much about her movements yet. Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest updates from the field, including new info about the cats and ibex on air.   Photos: SLCF-Mongolia and Oliver Wearn for SLT 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: 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, National Geographic Society, 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 Snow Leopard Field Chronicles: Part Two appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

The villagers sprang into action. They immediately informed the wildlife department of the situation expressing deep concern about the welfare of the snow leopard cub. They realized that trying to scare the feral dogs away could cause the cub to run down the Stupa and fall prey to the pack. The community stood guard at a respectful distance of 50 meters around the stranded snow leopard cub to protect it while waiting for the wildlife rescue team. Their commitment to wildlife preservation shone through as they patiently awaited professional assistance instead of attempting to intervene themselves. Within just hours, the wildlife rescue team arrived to find the frightened cub safe thanks to the community’s vigilant protection. This powerful example showcases how communities and government agencies can work together to safeguard endangered species in conservation emergencies. To ensure its safety, the rescue team sedated the cub, carefully removed it from the top of the Stupa and kept it under observation in a trap-cage away from the village until nightfall. The cub was then returned to where it was first spotted and released from the cage. The team achieved the ultimate conservation victory at 8:30 pm when they witnessed mother and cub reuniting, the young snow leopard trailing behind its mother into the darkness.  Feral dogs trapped this ibex in the river for hours before the ibex managed to escape. While this story had a happy ending, that’s not always the case. Growing populations of feral dogs in snow leopard habitat are a rapidly emerging threat to snow leopards, livestock, and people. It’s believed that some herders lose more livestock to feral dogs today than snow leopards and wolves. These dogs can also carry severe diseases like rabies, which pose risks to both humans and snow leopards. Our partner communities in Spiti Valley are working to humanely address this conservation and human health hazard by sterilizing and vaccinating as many dogs as possible. This enormous undertaking requires extensive collaboration between local administrations and communities, as well as considerable funding. The good news is that together we can fund compassionate solutions to fix this problem. From now until June 11, we’re raising $15,000 to fund ongoing community efforts to spay, neuter and vaccinate feral dogs to protect snow leopards. Will you help?  Click here to make a gift today.  Photo credits: Tsewang Rigzin, Rhetick Sengupta, NCF-India This story from Khardong Village was initially reported to us by Karma Sonam, Director of Conservation for Ladakh. The post Compassionate Conservation: How one community saved a snow leopard cub from feral dogs appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

The project’s origins trace back to a capacity-building workshop held for community rangers in January 2023. As they discussed challenges in their daily work, B. Ganbold, a ranger from a community in the western Khovd province, proposed a simple yet powerful idea: create mobile ‘knowledge’ boxes filled with informative conservation materials that could travel between households. These “nomadic trunks” now serve as portable libraries, filled with carefully curated collections of books, games and educational guides suitable for all ages. But they’re more than just educational resources—they’re catalysts for community connection. In Mongolia’s remote landscapes, where neighbouring households are often many kilometers apart, community rangers serve as vital links between families. As they patrol their territories to gather crucial information about wildlife sightings and potential conservation concerns, they now haul these nomadic trunks to each household they visit. The practice weaves seamlessly into Mongolia’s cherished tradition of hospitality. As families welcome rangers with the customary salt milk tea, these visits become opportunities for meaningful exchange about local wildlife and conservation efforts. The contents of the trunks and the new visitor spark conversations, inspire learning and strengthen the bonds between rangers and their communities. The project has already placed trunks with two communities and seen promising early results. We’re working together with 33 communities across Mongolia, with each typically composed of 15 households. The Nomadic Trunk Project exemplifies how Mongolia’s traditional pastoral cultural heritage can enhance modern conservation efforts. Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest updates from the field. Photo credits: SLCF-Mongolia Acknowledgments: We would like to thank IKI (Small grants) The International Climate Initiative by the German government for funding.  The post The Traveling Trunk: Mongolia’s Mobile Conservation Project appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.

Field update from April 24 We collared a new female snow leopard a couple of days ago, but we weren’t able to match her to any of our known females from the cameras. She is most likely in the database; we just haven’t found her yet. It would be a bit surprising if the cameras didn’t detect her. Her ID is F19, and we suspect that she is pregnant. A quick update on our ibex trapping: we’re seeing lots of ibex activity at Buren’s well, where our cage trap is. This is a small well in a ravine where Buren usually waters his horses. Over the years, the ibex have learned there is often leftover water in the troughs. They go in and out of the specially-designed trap and seem completely habituated to it now. About 500 meters from our camp, there’s another water hole which has a solar-powered pump that brings up about 500 liters of water per day.  We have already set up the poles for the dropnet at that location and the ibex don’t mind them at all. Our dropnet was custom-made in Sweden with mesh small enough to prevent ibex hooves or horns from getting caught. Unfortunately, it rained a couple of days after we arrived. There haven’t been any ibex visits since. We’re hoping that there isn’t enough green grass yet and that the ibex will return before we pack up camp. It’s great to see that they have gotten used to the cage trap and do not show any fear of the poles for the net. It would be nice to test if they accept the net, too. Unfortunately, all it takes is one rain shower for the entire trapping season to fail. If that happens, we will have to adjust our plans. Field update from April 28 The same female snow leopard ended up getting caught again this morning and we got better photos of her. We can now confirm that she is the cat known as ‘Guierrero Cub 2’, born in 2020. This makes her a sister (or half-sister) to One-Eye (F14) and grandcub of Suhder (F1). She has definitely had cubs before, but I don’t think we have detected her with cubs on the cameras, which is a little strange.  Today, we tried to catch an ibex for the first time during this trip. It didn’t work. We hid in the wrong place, the ibex passed by close to us and saw us. An old female simply laid down and stared at us, waiting for us to leave before they went into the trap. Clever girl. Bird side note #1 – There has been a bit of pied wheatear drama surrounding our capture site. We caught F19 early in the morning on the 28th. But halfway into the capture, the sun rose, and a pair of pied wheatears began flying around us, seemingly upset that a snow leopard was in their territory. They circled us for at least half an hour, landing and making lots of noise until we left. We were joking that they probably were trying to tell us “That the thing in front of you is a snow leopard. They’re bloody lethal for Pete’s sake!” Poor birds arrived not long ago, established their breeding territory, and now there is a darn snow leopard in it. Field update from April 29 We collared another cat this morning. This one is F16, Oluula (which means Together in Mongolian). She is the daughter of F12 Wilian and grandcub of Anu. She and her siblings dispersed from F12 sometime this winter. Her aunt F11 used to reside just west of where we caught F16, but the cameras didn’t detect her this past autumn. We’d also like to be able to collar F11, too, if she is still around.  Our data shows that F16’s mother, F12, moved around a lot this winter but is now back in her territory. Perhaps she was just out on ‘vacation’ in the few months when she was without cubs. She will likely give birth to a new litter in a few weeks. It will be exciting to see if she uses the same cave den as she did for her last litter (F16 and her siblings).  Bird side note #2: We caught F16 in the early morning, and the same thing happened with the birds as last time. When the sun rose, the wheatear pair noticed the snow leopard and again flew around protesting loudly. Poor birds must have cursed their bad luck—the same three nitwits had brought another snow leopard to their territory.  When we left, we saw the tiny birds diving in towards the cat. I guess they saw an opportunity to scare it away. I feel kind of bad for the birds. If we catch a third cat in that snare, we may have to carry it away a bit. Otherwise, they’ll probably pack up and leave for a new territory that is not infested with snow leopards.  Note – pied wheaters are very small birds, like a sparrow, and can’t do any harm to a snow leopard.  Field update from May 1 We tried with the ibex again today but had no luck. In the afternoon, it started raining and thundering, so we gave up and hurried back to camp to save our trap monitoring system from any nearby lightning strikes. Now, there are small puddles of water everywhere in the mountains, so the ibex won’t come and drink for a couple of days. To be continued in June . . . NOTE: Why we collar cats Tracking snow leopards reveals crucial information about these elusive animals that we couldn’t learn any other way. The collars, typically programmed  to detach after 20 months, provide valuable information that directly shapes our conservation strategies to protect this endangered species. Sign up for our monthly E-News to get all the latest updates from the field, including new information about the cats on air.   Photos: SLCF-Mongolia  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: 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, National Geographic Society, 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 Two New Female Snow Leopards On Air appeared first on Snow Leopard Trust.