Current Mood: optimistic

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As the bitter wind bites the exposed flesh of my hands, I fumble with my GPS to get a location of the tracks we have just found.  Despite my fatigue and the pain in my legs, and the burning sensation in my lungs from the cold, I am excited as I follow the footsteps of a wild snow leopard just a few hours after he or she passed through the area.

We come up to the top of the ridge; the endless Gobi spreads below us its rocky camel-colored steppe-lands.  We find what we have been searching for – snow leopard poop. It may seem outlandish that I flew from Texas to the middle of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, and with my Mongolian colleagues embarked on a 700-mile expedition just to find scats, but with the breakthroughs in genetic analysis, there is a goldmine of information that we can now obtain from the droppings of the endangered snow leopard.

Snow leopards are among the most elusive animals. In addition, they occur in very remote areas hard to reach by biologists and even harder to work in. It is therefore not surprising we have very little information on the abundance of snow leopards in much of the mountainous areas they inhabit.

Yet for conservation, we need to get a handle on the number of snow leopards in an area. Why? Well, conservation actions are expensive and time consuming. To protect the species effectively we need to know in which areas they are threatened and where actions that protect these remarkable animals are most needed. In addition, we need to know if our efforts are working. Genetic analysis of scat can meet these informational needs.

Snow leopards deposit scat in very predictable places and the cold dry environment preserves the genetic material. We put a small piece of scat in each secure sampling tube, along with a desiccant. Back in the laboratory, the DNA is carefully extracted from the fecal material and a small portion of a gene is sequenced to verify that it is from a snow leopard. The scat is analyzed using the same techniques that forensic scientists use to identify evidence at a crime scene. Turns out that up to two thirds of the scats that we thought were snow leopard can be from red foxes. Genotyping of microsatellites provides a genetic fingerprint for recognizing individuals.  In the map below you can see locations where we collected the scats of three different cats. By collecting all scats over time, we can estimate abundance.

We have compared camera trapping and these noninvasive genetics scat surveys in the Gobi Desert and found the genetic approach more rapid and cost effective. We have developed a partnership between Snow Leopard Conservancy, Texas A&M University, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and Irbis Mongolia. Together, and with the generous financial partnership of the Bowman Family Foundation, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, the Tapeats Fund, and many individual donors, we are finally getting a handle on population information throughout Mongolia.

I am happy for the privilege of experiencing the snow leopard’s harsh realm while working with many dedicated biologists, conservationists, and local communities. Even if I never get closer to these remarkable animals than placing my hand in a fresh pugmark in the snow, or reaching for that next piece of poop, it is still a thrill that through my genetic work these cats are unwittingly contributing to their own conservation.

Current Location: Mongolia
Tags: snow leopard mongolia gobi irbis

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Here are some pics from Vaprasu high pasture (height c. 4800 m.)  

Also attached is the image of a school youth in action.  

School children are indeed enthusiastic about the snow leopard 
camera monitoring in their areas.

Youth setting up a "camera trap" and photos of wild snow leopard 
captured by a camera. 

Current Location: Nepal
Tags: snow leopard vaprasu camera trap

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Greetings!  I am in Kathmandu waiting for the flights to Everest.  The inclement weather in the Everest region, this year, has not permitted any flight to Lukla for the past many days until just yesterday when 60 flights went to Lukla to bring c. 3500 trekkers stranded in Lukla to Kathmandu!  Today, it’s foggy in Kathmandu again, but hopefully it will improve.  

I may be flying any day to Everest and remain there for ten days or so.  N. Regmi has agreed to monitor savings and credit programs this year too.  We will hire him for fifteen days.  I am taking a masters student with me who has some knowledge on savings and credit program.  My intention is to show him around and introduce to stakeholders.  He will learn from N. Regmi.  I need a person who could write and influence community and when necessary monitor these savings and credit groups (and run educational activities) in my absence. 

A two-day meeting/interaction is being coordinated in Pokhara.  Altogether 120 students from 30 schools -- one each from 5, 6, 7, and 8 grades -- from around Pokhara valley will take part in this huge gathering.  Three things will happen --

1. Students will receive a formal lecture on snow leopard and nature (c. two hours) that day.  Bikram Shrestha, temporary field coordinator for snow leopard camera-trap/SLC, and ACAP [Annapurna Conservation Area] officer are visiting each school and take informal classes throughout November.  Each participant student, prior to attending the formal meeting/interaction, will intensively read on snow leopard and other Himalayan flora and fauna in schools (helped by their science teachers), and be prepared for the day (Dec 5-6, 2011).

2. They will participate in a) essay competition, b) nature drawing, and c) snow leopard poetry.

3. A 15 member snow leopard scouts committee will be formed.  

Current Location: Kathmandu
Tags: snow leopard pokhara kathmandu scouts

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Greetings from Mustang district! 

I have just descended down, for one day, to Jomsom from the high summer pasture (4,200m - 5,000m, called 
Vrapsa, literally meaning a type of soil that is used to plaster walls).  Towering by Tilicho and 
Nilgiri (over 7,5000 m), this U-shaped valley is approximately seven hour-uphill from 
Jomsom (the district headquarter) and Thini, the oldest and one of the largest Bon villages in Mustang.  
Vrapsa and its adjoining valleys (Lubra and Mukninath) support snow leopard, blue sheep, and musk deer, 
to name three most important wildlife.   Both Jomsom and Thini graze their Jopkyo (Jhopa), cattle, and 
sheep and goats in this alpine pasture, albeit animal husbandry is slowly declining here as elsewhere 
in Nepal.  An acute shortage of labor for herding livestock has hit animal husbandry hard. Livestock 
number is relentlessly declining.  Because we largely concentrated on training, both in classroom and field,
our focus was not to enumerate blue sheep or snow leopard signs along sign transect or livestock number 
in Vrapsu area.  We walked along a few sign transects to show both students and rangers snow leopard 
signs and habitat.  We also classified blue sheep, as part of the training.  We in fact had counted 
blue sheep, and recorded systematically snow leopard signs along the sign transects in April and May 2011.
 

The wildlife (classroom) training: 

The wildlife training was held for three days (15-17 Oct) in Jomsom and trained 16 rangers from Annapurna, 
Manaslu, and Gaurishnakar Conservation Areas and from district government forest offices.  Professor Karan 
Shah, naturalist, taught most classes on vertebrate biology and field techniques, while Bikram Shrestha, 
freelancer biologist, taught rangers mapping and camera-trapping techniques.  My role was to introduce 
field ecology, snow leopard biology and nitty-gritty of remote camera-trapping. 

The wildlife (field) training: 

The classroom training was subsequently followed by field-training from 18-24 Oct in the high alpine pasture.  
This is when we invited school students to join the raining.  Two local herders also joined the program. 

The objectives were three-fold:  

1. Teach students about snow leopard, blue sheep and its habitat, and overall environment, 

2. Initiate dialogue to form snow leopard scouts, and 

3. Facilitate interactions between (recently-trained) rangers and students such that students learn from 
   rangers who will in overall guide students, and transfer their environmental knowledge and conservation 
   awareness.  Students would then, through "street theater" and other means (e.g., nature drawing, 
   essay writing), spread conservation message (targeting snow leopard) to their respective communities.

Besides the first-hand knowledge on blue sheep, snow leopard and other fauna and flora, students performed 
the following three specific activities:

1. Nature drawing (theme, snow leopard, its prey and habitat)

2. Quiz contest (on the overall environmental awareness)

3. Creation of a street theatre, entitled "Himalko Rajdut or The Ambassador of the Himalaya" to be played 
   to the audience composed of local community leaders and layman and civil/government servants in the evening 
   of 24 Oct in Jomsom in the occasion of the closing ceremony.

4. Camera-trap training 
   

In short, the program went smooth.  In total, ten students: two from Janhit higher secondary school (Jomsom),
one from each of the eight selected schools, participated in the training.  The following is the list of 
eight schools:  Dhaulagiri sec school (Jomsom), Jankalyan ,lower secondary(Syang) , Janabahal secondary 
(Marpha), Yogendra higher secondary (Tukuche), Gyanodaye secondary (Lete), Taplung lower seconary (Taglung),
Janta lower secondary (Ghasa), and Janashanti secondary (Kagben).  The selected student from Janadarsha 
secondary (Kobang village) was absent in the program due to the reason unknown at present. 
We also maintained gender balance while selecting students for the environmental camp such that half of 
the school participants were girls.
 

The remote camera-trapping training and setting:  

We trained rangers on the ABCs of the remote camera technique.  We let the rangers train students in the 
field.  We led both students and rangers to the field and installed four cameras (all Bushnell trophy Cam).  
Just yesterday (25 Oct), we installed two Scout guards in Lubra valley.
 

Soon I am off to Muktinath area, with Bikram and Shankar, two of my assistants, to set additional cameras.  
Altogether we plan to set nine cameras in lower Mustang.

Current Location: Mustang, Nepal
Tags: snow leopard mustang nepal education cam

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We arrived in the small settlement of Chui Oozy at 1:00am. We had to wake up Galena, who runs a nice restaurant there, as well as a guesthouse and one of the three cultural museums we are supporting in creating a space devoted to snow leopard information. In the morning we had a long conversation about handicrafts production in the area, and how she is working to build the small community there.

Altai landscape from car

From Chui Oozy, Galena's son drove us across the Katun River and along the rough dirt road to Inegen, where a small Snow Leopard Day festival was held in May. Olga and Slava run a tourist camp there, where visitors stay in a traditional yurt, and where the second of the museums is located. I would call this more of an interpretive center, as it is entirely devoted to snow leopards and the other wildlife of the area, especially the endangered Argali sheep. They were busy harvesting their potatoes, and after one of Olga's delicious meals, they went back to the garden while Chagat and I took a walk along the river and into Inegen Village.

The next morning, after a long breakfast and more discussion about the museum, Olga and Slava drove us to the town of Aktash, where their daughter lives, and where Chagat wanted to meet another Olga, who is a felt handicraft producer, as well as Karina Toochukova, a wonderful ceramicist. I'm bringing home some nice felt mats, and a sample of the ceramic whistle that Karina makes, and of which she will do a snow leopard version for us. Olga sent us away with a big bag of cedar nuts. I wish I had thought to get images of just  about everyone from Aktash to Kosh-Agach walking around or sitting at their desks munching on these nuts that taste just like our pine nuts (only you have to crack the shells with your teeth). You can't visit anyone without being given at least handful to take away! And while we're on the subject of food.....

Fresh fish

Things I have eaten: cabbage & potato-filled piroshski, a meaty noodle soup called lakman, tomato and cucumber salad. Galena served a nice fried rice dish, for breakfast, at her restaurant. Pot-sticker-like dumplings and deep-fried cheese patties made by Olga of Inegen were delicious, as were her home-made sausage, like our breakfast sausage. There were lots of crispy, just-harvested apples from Inegen, and fresh fish at the restaurant in Aktash run by Olga & Slava's daughter, caught in the Katun River. Maya (see below) made good tomato egg omelets, served with local cheese and breads. In other words, I'm eating much too well!

On we went after that to Kosh-Agach, driven by felter-Olga's husband. We stayed at the home of Maya Erlenbaeva, deputy director of Ukok Quiet Zone Nature Park, and had a great two days. We met with the teachers at the school, who took time from their busy schedule to give me an impassioned update on how much they and the students love the snow leopard festival and the learning experience leading up to the day, and how proud they are of their students.

Maya and Slava

Slava, the Shaman and guardian of Irbis Tu (Snow Leopard Mountain), had just come back the day before from working with his teacher in Mongolia. Apparently he has finished his three-year preparation period, and he was given his "official" Shaman robe and head-dress. I was amazed that he actually modeled them for us. Chagat had brought his computer to show Slava video of the festival, but we ended up also looking at footage of a ceremony Chagat participated in on a recent visit to Mongolia, and maybe Slava wanted to compare his robe to that Shaman's.

Irbus Tu (Snow Leopard Mountain)

Slava says that Snow Leopard is seen often and heard every winter at their herder camp on Irbis Tu. The herders are there from November through April and sometimes into May. Even in summer snow leopards try to take livestock. They don't have night-time depredation because their enclosures are well-built. It's interesting that both Slava and the teachers said they don't have a poaching problem around Kosh-Agach.

Plein air painting

We invited Slava to come with us to Irbis Tu the next day, but he was too busy having just gotten home after several weeks in Mongolia. We got a late start for what was probably a drive of more than 40 miles. The road was rough and we only had about an hour of daylight left by the time we gave up trying to make it all the way to the mountain. Maya's old friend Blodov came along. He's an artist and art teacher and he wanted to do a plein air painting of the mountain. We stopped on a little plateau with a good view of the face of Irbis II. We did the proper ceremony for being near the sacred mountain, offering a bowl of kumis (fermented mare's milk). Blodov set up his easel and started painting while Maya made tea on a portable stove. I made photos of the painting progress, and it was pretty cool. It was a nice outing, but I wished we'd had the whole day to explore. Maybe some day we can go there with Slava.

Now I'm back in Gorno-Altaisk, and it has turned rainy. I was really lucky with fabulous weather for this whole trip!

See additional photos at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.254611991250219.63437.109144689130284&l=1a45651b19&type=1

Tags: snow leopard kosh-agach altai irbus

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Tags: gorno-altaisk snow leopard chagat soyot

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One of the projects under way at the Foundation for Sustainable Development of Altai is handicraft production.

Felting is a traditional Altaian craft, but the women mainly made flat things like chair cushions and rugs.

FSDA has been helping them to develop this technique to produce representations of the animals of the Altai, including snow leopards, argali, domestic horses and camels. The idea is to create toys/souvenirs that would appeal to tourists and locals alike. The materials are natural and no chemicals are used, so the items are safe for kids. There has been a lot of progress from the first "prototype" snow leopard designed by the women, and which Natalia is holding in this photograph. Marina, at left, is FSDA's financial manager, but she has also been involved in the handicraft training. She took us today to see to see the latest examples of felted snow leopard and argali.

Stay tuned -- I am hoping that I'll be able to bring some back for our next event. The women have less than two  weeks to make them, so there won't be many.

Tags: altai toys crafts felt snow leopard

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Tags: russia altai snow leopard gorno-altaisk

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Tags: annapurna, lomanthang, mustang, nepal, snow leopard

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