Project update - November 2005

Focus on Snow Leopards in the Celestial Mountains of Central Asia
By Tom McCarthy, International Snow Leopard Trust

I keep having to remind myself that it is indeed summer - somewhere. But here, 4300 m up in the Tien Shan mountains, the late June storm is penetrating my parka with wet snow and obscuring any sign of the trail through this mountain pass. Fortunately my horse and my two Kyrgyz associates know the way well and soon we are descending into the Koindu river valley deep in the heart of the Sarychat Ertash Protected Area. One of Kyrgyzstan's most important reserves for the endangered snow leopard, Sarychat Ertash (SCE) is very near the border with China where the leopards and their prey form a single trans-boundary population stretching along the peaks of the Tien Shan or the "Celestial Mountains", as the range is known locally. DSWF supports the research and conservation activities of the Snow Leopard Trust on the China side of the border, but the first step in that crucial work is taking place on the Kyrgyz side, so it is here we will report from today.

With the snowy mountain pass behind us, we wind our along the Koindu river, crossing the meter deep water repeatedly to avoid cliffs that block our way. The approaching dusk and increasing wind off the glaciers above chill us through snow dampened clothes, but after nearly 10 hours on the horse my feet feel no pain - they went numb long ago. My Kyrgyz companion assures me we have no more than 5 km to go, which is what he said an hour ago. Then, huddled as best I can against the wind, I catch a whiff of smoke on the air - nothing can be mistaken for the smell of burning yak dung and I know hot tea and warm toes are not far ahead. My horse breaks into a trot of his own accord - apparently he knows that smell too.

Base camp for this research project is at about 3,000 m elevation at the confluence of two glacial rivers. The peaks rise dramatically some 2,000 m above the barren valley bottom. Steep and broken they form ideal habitat for snow leopard and their prey. My first view of the terrain around camp tells me the horse ride in was the easy part, because now we have to get up these precipitous massifs and no horses will be carrying us there. We will be placing 48 automated cameras throughout a 150 km2 study area to try and "capture" as many snow leopards on film as possible. The results of the study will help us answer the frequently asked question, "How many snow leopards are left in the wild?"

That is a query for which we presently have no good answer. Snow leopards are nearly impossible to see, much less count. We usually say there are only 3,500 to 7,000 of the magnificent cats left in the wild, but that is just an estimate based on sketchy information. Our new high-tech cameras will be placed alongside known trails and when the infrared detector built into the camera "sees" the snow leopard, the camera is triggered and a record of each cat that comes by is obtained. Because each snow leopard has a unique spot pattern we can identify individual cats that appear in the photos and make an accurate population estimate.

But first we have to get the cameras into the surrounding peaks and find good snow leopard trails!

Over the next week 3 teams of Kyrgyz and American biologists scramble and climb the steep slopes carrying packs filled with sensitive equipment searching for sign of leopards and then carefully placing cameras to get the best possible photos. Friendly arguments break out in a mix of English, Russian and Kyrgyz as we each give an opinion on which way a cat would likely come along the cliff face or ridgeline. A slightly misaligned camera will yield a useless picture of the tip of a tail, or worse, an empty frame. And it is not just the leopards we have to consider, since a herd of ibex walking by could shoot a whole roll of film in minutes. Each camera site is agonized over.

Cameras in place, the waiting game begins. For two months the cameras will sit, visited once or twice to check the film and batteries. Meanwhile we census the much more visible wildlife such as argali and ibex; the wild mountain sheep and goats that comprise the snow leopard's prey. Here in Sarychat Ertash the prey is rich, which should support a large number of cats. But we have seen several old snare sites which indicates that this was recently a popular place to poach leopards. Shortly after Kyrgyzstan became independent with the collapse of the Soviet Union, economic conditions became dire and many people, including rangers who had previously defended this park, turned to the illegal sale of wildlife to survive. How badly that has impacted snow leopard populations here should be better understood when our study is complete.

After a month I reluctantly get back on my horse and make the long journey back over the pass and out of Sarychat. The team of rangers and Kyrgyz and American graduate students will stay on and finish the study. In late September the cameras will be brought out, film developed and, with luck, questions answered. By October the DSWF funded team in China will repeat the study on their side of the Celestial Mountains and one more piece of the snow leopard population puzzle will fall into place.

Look for snow leopard photos from both study areas on this website when available.

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