Protecting Snow Leopards

As 2024 draws to a close, we're delighted to share the progress achieved through the dedicated efforts of our field partners in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. Your support has empowered a year of vital research, conservation actions, and community engagement—all critical to ensuring a future for snow leopards in their natural habitats. 

Mongolia Update:

In Mongolia, our field partners successfully deployed new GPS collars on four snow leopards over two field trips this year—three in spring and one in autumn. Since 2008, more than 40 cats have been collared, with the information gathered forming the backbone of our snow leopard conservation strategy. This year’s collaring efforts provided new insights into the ecology and habits of these elusive big cats. Camera trapping efforts in the South Gobi region have also yielded an impressive 2,367 snow leopard photos from 165 encounters across 108 cameras. The images captured provide us with valuable data on individual leopards, enabling us to track six cubs born within the Tost Nature Reserve. Among the collared cats, a female named Willian gave birth to three cubs, and another female gave birth to three additional cubs, a hopeful sign of population growth in the area. 

Alongside these successes, we’ve continued working with the communities around Tost Nature Reserve, with an emphasis on training and supporting local women artisans through Snow Leopard Enterprises. This initiative empowers 103 women from 18 communities, including nine from our newest partner community, Ulziit. Despite limited equipment, these artisans produced seven new products for domestic and international markets, offering sustainable income opportunities that reduce pressure on local wildlife. 

Dagina Update:

On Thursday 19 December, Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) announced that no new sightings of Dagina, our beloved snow leopard ambassador, had been recorded in the last 18 months. Whilst we had been optimistic that Dagina would continue to defy the odds, she would now be the grand age of 15 years old - and we, alongside SLT, have accepted the sad reality that Dagina has likely passed on. 

Dagina’s story was a powerful reminder of the beauty and fragility of our natural world. As DSWF’s snow leopard ambassador, Dagina played a vital role in raising awareness about the urgent need to protect snow leopards and their habitats. Dagina’s legacy will live on through the conservation initiatives she helped inspire. Her image and story have been central to efforts that supported both community outreach and habitat preservation projects across snow leopard range countries. This is never the kind of news we want to share, but Dagina's daughter, Presnel, and even her granddaughter are both still patrolling her former range. The future you've helped secure through adopting Dagina, is alive and well, and our work continues. 

Kyrgyzstan Update:

In Kyrgyzstan, our focus has been on environmental education and community-based conservation. Throughout the year, we collaborated with 20 rural schools, where students learned about snow leopard ecology, wildlife protection, and sustainable environmental practices. Highlights included a flower photography competition, hands-on wildlife observation activities, and the creation of new teaching materials, each designed to enhance the practical knowledge of both students and their families. This year’s eco-camps saw 84 children, including 51 girls, exploring their natural surroundings at the Shamshy Wildlife Sanctuary and the Besh-Aral Reserve, while interacting with volunteers and learning about conservation across continents. 

With over 32 camera traps set across Sarychat-Ertash Nature Reserve, Kyrgyzstan's conservation efforts also continue to yield valuable insights. These traps have identified15 individual adult snow leopards and recorded a female with her one-year-old cub, providing hope for the next generation of this endangered species. 

Looking ahead to 2025, our focus remains on long-term ecological research and building stronger community ties. Through ongoing GPS collaring, camera trapping, and livestock management initiatives, we aim to deepen our understanding of snow leopard populations and behaviours. By empowering communities and fostering environmental stewardship, we’re helping create a future where snow leopards can thrive. 

As summer draws to a close in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan, we are eagerly anticipating the onset of the snow leopard’s mating season. Mating season for wild snow leopards is typically between January and mid-March, which means they use this time in the autumn to start their scent marking. The increased scent-marking helps them communicate with potential mates and establish territories, ensuring successful mating opportunities during the breeding season.

In preparation for this important period, we are also reflecting on the results of this year’s mating season. A female snow leopard is typically pregnant for 93-110 days before giving birth to her cubs in June or July. Our partner’s ongoing monitoring efforts in the Tost Nature Reserve have been particularly promising. They have managed to capture over 8,400 camera trap images of snow leopards, and preliminary analysis indicates that at least six cubs were born in the reserve in the 2023 birthing period. Results for this year are not yet available as the mothers are still in the early stages of raising their offspring, a task they undertake alone. At this stage, cubs born in the summer will soon be ready to start eating solid food and to follow their mothers around, learning important behaviours such as hunting.

Recently, a situation in Mongolia highlighted the importance of innovative approaches to human-wildlife conflict. A local herder reported a snow leopard had killed one of his foals. In response, our partner’s science team collaborated with the herder to develop and trial a new type of protective collar designed to safeguard his remaining foals. This collar features blinking lights and emits high-frequency sounds that vary with the horse’s movements, aiming to deter predators without allowing them to become accustomed to the stimuli. This inventive solution is part of our partner’s broader effort to reduce livestock losses and promote co-existence between snow leopards, wolves, and local communities.

Our commitment to developing locally driven solutions, such as the protective collar, demonstrates our dedication to balancing the needs of wildlife with those of local communities. By addressing challenges like livestock predation, we aim to foster greater acceptance and support for snow leopard conservation.

As we look to the future, our commitment to protecting Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan’s wildlife and wild spaces remains steadfast. As always, thank you for your generous support in providing a more sustainable future for snow leopards and the communities that live alongside them.

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