Wildlife Conservation Mongolia Project #25845

Protecting Snow Leopards

by David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Project Report | Aug 9, 2019
Protecting Snow Leopards - August update 2019

By Theo Bromfield | Project Leader

Thank you for donating to our Protecting Snow Leopards project. Your support helps to fund The Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), the ground-based conservation partners that David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation supports and who work to protect the elusive snow leopard in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia.

SLT has recently published a peer-reviewed paper revealing that the samples used in previous studies of snow leopard populations have possibly been too small to be accurate. In fact, the paper highlights that historically, sampling has often been biased towards the best habitats.

“There have been lots of questions about how many snow leopards there may be in the world lately, and a lot of debate about how little we really know,” says Snow Leopard Trust ecologist Dr. Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, the lead author of the new study. “So we decided to look into this question in more detail. We wanted to understand how much useful data on snow leopard populations really exists, and how reliable it is.”

This practical application of their research is vital – they came to the conclusion the majority of existing studies about snow leopard populations are biased toward the best habitats and cover areas that are too small to be representative of the landscapes where these cats are found and cannot be used to help determine the global population.

Why is this type of bias in population studies a problem for snow leopard conservation?

“The snow leopard’s global range is huge, and less than 1% of it has ever been surveyed with solid scientific methods to estimate how many cats there are. These studies are a really small snapshot of reality. But they’re also all we’ve got right now. People often ask how many snow leopards there may be in the world, and the best answer we can give them based on the very limited data we have is somewhere between 3,500 to perhaps 8,000, but we don’t really know. Now, if there is any bias in our data, our picture of reality will be very skewed! At the same time, major conservation decisions are being made on the basis of this data – decisions that will impact snow leopards and their habitat for generations. What if there are actually fewer snow leopards than we think because most existing studies are biased towards high-density areas that don’t accurately reflect reality? It’s impossible to say for sure, but our research shows it’s at the very least a real concern. We can’t afford to be wrong.” – From the SLT website.

SLT has worked tirelessly for many years and is a global leader in monitoring techniques of these elusive populations. Accurate data is essential to not only understand the species and how they best thrive and in what conditions but also in order to determine the threats they face from external factors such as the illegal wildlife trade. The future of the snow leopard hangs in the balance and rigorous scientific data is the key to better understand the impacts of trade, poaching and environmental changes on global snow leopard populations.

DSWF is proud to also support the Snow Leopard Trust by focusing on educational and community based conservation outputs.

Links:

Our work on snow leopards

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May 14, 2019
2017-2018 Conservation Update

By Theo Bromfield | Programmes & Policy Executive

For thousands of years, snow leopards were king of the mountains surviving off an abundant habitat rich with prey. However, over the last 100 years the threats facing snow leopards have continued to grow and they are now listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Through funding holistic initiatives, DSWF are working alongside communities, governments and law enforcement experts in Asia to provide snow leopards with the greatest form of protection and ensure they have a bright future.

Snow Leopard Conservation Updates 2017-2018

Mongolia:

It was an incredibly exciting year for DSWF in Mongolia, following the first successful collaring of ibex ever recorded, the prime prey species of snow leopard. In April, our partners also collared four snow leopards, leading to the discovery of a den and two healthy cubs. This research will provide vital understanding of these mysterious animals and valuable data to maximise conservation efforts.
DSWF supported 220 snow leopard awareness eco-lessons for 3,359 children, alongside two five-day eco camps reaching 40 children and their teachers, in the Tost Nature Reserve.
Building on a successful programme, our project partners in Mongolia held further successful training workshops for 87 women from five local communities in South Gobi. In Spring 2017, they completed two rounds of handicraft purchasing from 207 women, who earned $16,546. In the Autumn, 181 women made 12,383 handicrafts earning $13,311.
DSWF continued funding livestock insurance programmes, allowing communities to insure their livestock against snow leopard predation. Almost 10,270 livestock from 52 households are currently insured. Twenty corrals (pens) have also been predator proofed, with herders agreeing to pay back the money over 2-3 years. Evidence shows that predators are now unable to climb over the fencing and no livestock have been lost inside the newly built corrals. As a result, in coordination with environmental officials, no evidence was found that snow leopards or their wild prey had been harmed within any community areas in the last few years.

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Oct 30, 2018
Great News for Snow Leopards in Mongolia

By Lis Speight | DSWF's Marketing and Communications Manager

Image Credit: Snow Leopard Trust/Panthera

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s (DSWF) work funding snow leopard research and monitoring programmes is having a real impact on the species in Mongolia. In this report we are delighted to share with you some exciting new developments from our project partners the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT).

Some of the biggest news is that the Tost Nature Reserve is now officially totally free from mining licences. Mining is one of the biggest threats to the snow leopard, because of loss of habitat and human conflict.

In April 2016, DSWF funding helped create the first Nature Reserve specifically for snow leopards. Situated in the Tost Mountains in Mongolia’s South Gobi, the reserve is a bridge between two existing Protected Areas and has created one of the world’s largest continuous protected snow leopard habitats.

However, it's taken until now to get every last mining licence revoked/shut down. This is a huge step forward for snow leopard protection in this part of its range. Support from DSWF has also helped SLT continue its important GPS collaring of snow leopards, as part of a long-term ecological study in the Tost Mountains.

This season the SLT team collared a total of three snow leopards - two males and one female. One was the biggest snow leopard SLT has ever collared. Nicknamed "The Dude," until he gets an official name, the leopard was recently collared in October 2018 and weighed in at 53.8 kilos.

"As far as we know, he is the biggest snow leopard ever caught and weighed with proper methods," said Orjan Johansson, SLT’s lead collaring expert. SLT now has six cats currently "on air", sending back GPS data about their movements across the landscape.

One of the females collared is Dagina, who is the longest-ever studied snow leopard. At nine years old, she is still going strong, and contributing to cutting-edge science.

SLT’s Assistant Director of Science, Gustaf Samelius said: "In summer 2018, we visited two locations where Dagina had taken down a prey animal on the very edge of the mountains. We expected to find carcasses of ibex or argali. But what we found surprised us: Dagina had killed and eaten two black-tailed gazelles.

“As far as we know, this is the first time a snow leopard has been documented to have hunted this ungulate species. Black-tailed gazelles mostly live in the steppe, and rarely venture into the mountains.”

DSWF’s funding of SLT’s work is helping to create better understanding of the needs of these endangered animals. SLT is also working with the community to raise awareness and provide alternative livelihoods, to generate wider understanding and tolerance of this beautiful big cat.

This is all great news and thanks in part to YOUR on-going commitment to saving snow leopards – thank you! Look out for our future updates on how your donations are helping to save this beautiful endangered species.

Click here to find out more about our work protecting snow leopards.

Links:

http://www.davidshepherd.org

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