Snow Leopard Conservancy

The snow leopard is a symbol of Central Asia’s high mountains, yet this cat is one of the most difficult animals to study. Snow leopards are elusive and endangered; their range is huge, and their habitat is forbidding.

Dr. Rodney Jackson is founder-director of the Snow Leopard Conservancy and the world’s expert on these beautiful cats. He spends almost half of each year in the field, engaging local communities in protecting their snow leopards, and studying the behavior, requirements and status of these magnificent cats.

The Conservancy has demonstrated that indigenous communities and local organizations can become the snow leopards’ best guardians, taking conservation actions to address the root causes of human-wildlife conflict. Improved livestock management and “predator-proof” corrals reduce depredation by snow leopards and prevent retributive killing. The Conservancy currently has programs in seven of the twelve snow leopard range countries: Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan and Russia.

A sampling of projects includes:

• Collaborating with Texas A&M and scientists from eight snow leopard countries on a long-term genetic study. DNA analysis enables the cost-effective enumeration of individual cats and their gender ratios, so conservation actions can be efficiently targeted and monitored over time.

• Providing technical support to The Nature Conservancy using Geographic Information System mapping to identify and recommend offset mitigation for large-scale mining in the South Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Significant populations of snow leopards live in this area.

• Pairing high school students with elder herders to monitor snow leopards using trail cameras.

• Working with livestock herders to secure their corrals against entry by snow leopards. For each improved corral, some five snow leopards are saved.

• Collaborating with Siberian wildlife biologists to monitor snow leopards and remove snares set by wildlife poachers.