The Snow Leopard is an elusive big cat. They aren’t easy to spot, as they blend in well with their surroundings. Locals call them the “mountain ghosts”. Snow leopards live in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tjiskistan, Russia and Uzbekistan so they have quite a range covering roughly 2 million square kilometres, half of which are in China.
Snow Leopard conservation charities work closely with local communities to help local people co-exist with these magnificent big cats, and also to help them with ways to improve their living standards. This will help reduce the need for poaching and also reduce reliance on livestock. Their work matters. And there's a lot going on
The Snow Leopard Trustreports that their supporters have enabled them to take action such as the following:
Acquire new data from snow leopard dens - they documented five cubs! This discovery all helps make informed conservation choices.
45 snow leopards are now collared in Tost, Mongolia, since 2008 which enables the reserachers to discover more about leopards. This data shapes conservation strategies to protect the leopards.
The Trust GPS collared one ibex, so now 14 since 2008! This is really important in understanding how ibex interact with snow leopards
The Trust expanded successful ranger training - its very successful Citizen-Ranger Wildlife Protection Programme has been expanded to Mongolia and Pakistan. This enables local rangers to have what they need to prevent poaching and illegal wildife trade and to protect habitat
Almost 450 corrals have been build to protect snow leopards and liverstock
200,000+ square kilometres of critical snow leopard has now been protected through government co-operation and community partnerships.
The Snow Leopard Trust has partnered with WWF and the Centre for Large Landscape Conservation, creating recommendations for the snow leopard range countries to reduce development impacts on these beuatiful big cats
Incredibly, over 1 million people are standing with the Snow Leopard Trust across its platforms across the world, determined to make sure that these stunning cats have a future.
This video on the Snow Leopard Conservancy's You Tube Channel shows a snow leopard calling for its mate in Nepal. The video clip is from photographer and citizen scientist Tashi R. Ghale.
11 ways to help snow leopards.
1. Build a connection with snow leopards.
Find out more about these magnificent big cats – their behaviour, biology, geography and so on. Watch footage of them (the Snow Leopard Trust has some amazing photos) to develop a bond with them, even if it is from the comfort of home. Get closer to them - it will increase your desire to help them
Spread the word about these threats – climate change, poaching, mining. Its main prey species such as sheep and goats - are also threatened by illegal and unsustainable hunting. In some areas, there are retribution killings when snow leopards kill livestock. Mining is destroying the eco-systems snow leopards depend on. And climate change will alter the habitat of the snow leopard and other species, affecting the availability of water and vegetation. It’s estimated that there are no more than 6,390 snow leopards living in the wild – and there may be as few as 3,920. There's a "Can you spot the danger? snow leopard quiz" here.
3. Get involved in International Snow Leopard Day
The 23rd October is International Snow Leopard Day (make a note in your calendar) but you can make every day a snow leopard day by checking for and sharing news, photos and videos you find to raise awareness of this stunning big cat.
4. Find out what snow leopard charities are doing to help snow leopards.
Discover where they work, what they do, what their mission is, ways in which you can help, whether they have a newsletter you can sign up to. Follow them on social media. Some may have volunteer opportunities - or even the chance to go trekking!
Snow Leopard Trustaims to better understand these magnificent cats and to protect them in partnership with the communities who share its habitat
Snow Leopard Conservancyworks to engage and incorporate local communities in protecting snow leopards in India, Nepal, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. It is the proud impact partner for the feature documentary, Snow Leopard Sisters - find out about that here.
The Snow Leopard Foundation in Kyrgyzstan - it aims to conserve and protect snow leoaprd populations, their prey base and habitats through scientific research, conservation projects and also the active engagement of local communities.
WCS. (the Wildlife Conservation Society)has supported snow leopard conservation in Afghanistan, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. And it plays a global leadership role in the conservation of this big cat. Its goal is to help snow leopards survive myriad threats.
Bhutan Foundation: Read about the Jomolhari Snow Leopard Conservation Project - an integrated approach to conserving an important snow leopard region in Bhutan. It believes that bringing benefits from conservation to local communities will encourage residents to take an active part in snow leopard conservation.
Panthera - a big cat conservation group - aims to stabilise and recover snow leopard populations, to understand and maintain habitat connectivtiy across the snow leopard range, and to provide foundational knowledge to inform conservation action.
WWF - it has a video series created by WWF-Nepal to show how a growing movement of people are using culture, science, nature and modern technology to protect snow leopards and their Himalayan habitat. You can view their You Tube videos here showing lessons in snow leopard conservation from Dolpa, Nepal.
The Snow Leopard Network is a worldwide organization which facilitates the exchange of information and insights between individuals around the world with the aim of snow leopard conservation. They have a number of reports which they publish which make interesting reading. View them here.
5. Adopt a snow leopard to support snow leopard charities!
6. Watch for appeals the snow leopard charities make.
They are often involved in Giving Tuesday or fundraisers around Christmas, so you could ask people to donate for you on your behalf instead of giving you an actual present. (This makes life much easier for them, too!)
Directly support snow leopard conservation. This would be quite an amazing gift for a snow leopard lover, as it includes a Personalized Research Camera adoption certificate, thousands of exclusive photographs from a real research camera trap, immediately available to download and a full camera roll from Mongolia, India and Kyrgyzstan! Find out more here
8. Donate or join Team Snow Leopard at the Snow Leopard Trust and donate monthly.
9. Buy products from snow leopard conservation charities’ online shops.
Spread the snow leopard wonder! You could also support Snow Leopard Enterprises. The idea is that herder women living in snow leopard habitat produce unique handicrafts, made with the natural resources they have. Snow Leopard Enterprises buys them and sells them online to snow leopard supporters worldwide! Families taking part can boost their income by up to 40% - and they pledge to keep snow leopards in their area safe. The Snow Leopard Trust says you could also sell some of its products at arts and crafts fairs to help raise funds and awareness.