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.