Update from the Field

Transcription

1 Update from the Field June 2015 Through our Long-Term Ecological Study (LTES) in the Tost region of Mongolia, we are learning a lot about the lives of wild snow leopards. Below are some exciting updates directly from this Long-Term Study along with news from other important snow leopard range countries. Following Tsetsen Tsetsen is currently the only collared cat in the Tost-Tosonbumba Mountains and his collar still seems to be performing well. He continues to patrol his range that covers the western parts of Tost and Tosonbumba. As described previously, his ranging patterns are nearly identical to those of Ariun, another male cat that was part of our study until December of The yellow points represent Tsetsen s last month locations, and the polygons represent his Fixed Kernel Home Range estimated for the locations representing the entire period that he has been collared for In India, our team is currently testing a newly designed Vectronics collar that houses a different satellite phone transmitter than the one we use in Mongolia. Our field staff, supported by our Associate of Policy and Research, Ajay Bijoor, is currently putting the collar through a series of rigorous tests to ensure that it can withstand the wear and tear of being on a wild snow leopard. So far, the collar seems to be performing well. However, we will continue more tests and wait to see the results as a whole before making a decision on the usability of the collar. Please stay tuned! Pg. 1

2 Update from the Field Country Highlights KYRGYZSTAN-Welcome Salavat! Our wonderful team in Kyrgyzstan just got a little more robust. We are happy to introduce Salavat Baktybek kyzy who as of July 1 st, will be coordinating our eco-education program at the Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) Kyrgyzstan. This is a new position made possible by support from The Christensen Fund. Salavat got her degree in International and Business Law from the American University of Central Asia. Apart from speaking fluent Russian and English, she speaks Kyrgyz as well as Spanish. She has been working as a marketing manager and sustainable tourism coordinator with the ITC Asia Mountains organization since She has worked with children from orphanages and other institutions and organized charity events, hiking, climbing trips, right to education and property, and time and money management. She is also a trained mountaineer and has scaled several peaks within Kyrgyzstan. Currently she is training to climb the Korona peak in the month of August. One of Salavat s first projects will be visiting villages in the countryside to collect local folklore on wildlife. We are planning to start an eco-camp program in Kyrgyzstan in the near future and to gain experience from our existing program, she will visit India's eco-camp around September of this year. PAKISTAN - Community Realization: A Live Leopard is Profitable Prepared by Kashif Syed, Communications Coordinator Snow Leopard Foundation Fareed, an elder from a community participating in snow leopard conservation in the remote area of Chitral located in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw, is committed to saving this elusive cat. He recalls a memory from three years ago when he witnessed this spirited and dignified creature. He explains that it looked at him with fearless and proud eyes and walked gallantly as it vanished in nearby mountains. Fareed declares that their community has always known that a snow leopard is only valuable if it is allowed to live. The great Chitral, accessed via the Karakorum Highway (KKH, N-45), is home to many wild snow leopards. For those who have not yet travelled to Chitral, it is a grueling journey made better by stunning scenery as you follow the river and valleys. The Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF), with the assistance of local conservancies, government personnel and generous donors, puts its efforts to saving the snow leopard with the community s support. Hand-making the cloth for the embroidered napkins SLF It is already in the tales of these mystic valleys that the snow leopard, which is locally called purdum, actually brings wealth and happiness if it tries to harm your animals. Members of the community even call their children names like Purdum Khan in tribute to the species. This creature brings vaccinations for our animals and allows the opportunity for enterprise, livelihood, mastering of skills and employment for the women. It gives education to our children, enables us to grow food and above all PROSPERITY to the communities. These realizations encourage the local people to shift their behaviors and attitudes towards snow leopards. Khurshid Ali, SLF office head in Chitral, said, One reason for the emergence of leopards and other wild animals from their original habitats, into areas inhabited by people, is the shrinking of the habitats due to the pressure of the increasing human population. This can lead to clearance of forests for farming and timber-cutting. More can be done about this particular problem. A more humane view of the leopards has to be taken as they leave their areas not because they are killers but because they are hungry. Continued on Next Page Pg. 2

3 Update from the Field Country Highlights PAKISTAN Continued Our SLF Director in Islamabad, Dr. Ali Nawaz, committed to strive to do our best to protect Pakistan s estimated endangered snow leopards. Through a community-based conservation approach, we are helping the women in local families increase their families quality of life by training them to make traditional handicrafts. These products are then sold nationally and internationally which increases a family's household earnings. Reducing livestock loss to disease helps herders and communities tolerate living with predators. In a typical year a herder family will lose ten times more livestock to disease than to snow leopard attacks. Successful results from our livestock vaccination programs go a long way to provide an environment that is receptive to our conservation efforts. As we follow the footprints of the snow leopard, we as conservationists can recognize the basic needs of the communities, and how they are closely associated with the wellbeing of this magnificent endangered creature. INDIA Packing the finished product Like most of our country partners, our team in India is busy in the field, but included below are a few key highlights for June: This month, Himalayan Nature Club activities were conducted in 20 schools in Ladakh. The theme for these activities was the Earth is heating up. Our field staff introduced the basic concepts of greenhouse gases and climate change with examples from their local regions to the children in classes 6 to 8. In the Chumathang village of Ladakh, approximately 100 livestock were killed last year. In June 2015, an agreement was signed with the herders of Chumathang village for the construction of four large corrals that will protect all their livestock during the crucial months of winter. Materials for the corrals are currently being purchased, and our field staff will go to Chumathang by the end of summer to help build the corrals. Our Country Program Director, Yash Veer Bhatnagar, was invited to a significant initiative of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department (HPFD) for sensitization of important politicians and senior bureaucrats in the State Capital, Shimla, on the 10 th of June. This was jointly organized by the HPFD, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), India and Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF). Yash Veer spoke about the unique challenges of snow leopard conservation compared with other large carnivores, as well as recent advances of snow leopard research and conservation made in India and the State. A highlight of the meeting was that important decision makers of the State, including the Chief Minister of the State, Mr. Virbhadra Singh, and the Forest Minister of the State, Mr. Thakur Singh Bharmouri, were familiarized with a more nuanced approach to large carnivore conservation in the State. Wildlife crime is expected to be significant in Himachal Pradesh and the State made a decision to tackle this earnestly in a recent Wildlife Board meeting. Spiti, being along a porous international border, is also expected to be vulnerable to wildlife crime and trade. Along with the Wildlife Conservation Trust, Mumbai, we organized a workshop for all field staff and officers of the Spiti Wildlife Division on wildlife law and enforcement from the 22 nd to 24 th of June, which was well received by participants. Yash Veer and resource persons, Dr. RK Singh and Kiran Rahalkar, also met with senior Army officers in the region to design an effective workshop for the armed forces that addresses their awareness of wildlife in the region, as well as knowledge of wildlife laws and enforcement. Also, their role as a key stakeholder in snow leopard conservation was discussed, as the entire snow leopard range in the country is along international borders. Pg. 3

4 2015 Acknowledgments Collaborators Mongolia & Long-Term Ecological Study Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Mongolia Ministry of Nature Environment and Green Development Mongolia Academy of Science China ShanShui Conservation Center Panthera Beijing University India Union Ministry of Envrionment and Forests Himachal Pradesh Forest Department Kyrgyzstan Snow Leopard Foundation Kyrgyzstan Ministry of Environmental Protection Institute of Biology Sarychat-Ertash State Nature Reserve Pakistan Snow Leopard Foundation Pakistan Directorate of Khunjerab National Park Gilgit-Baltistan Forest & Wildlife Department Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department Climate-Change & Water Security Initiative WWF-US USAID Global Forum World Bank Global Tiger Initiative WWF-US USAID UNDP Office of the President of Kyrgyzstan NABU Snow Leopard Conservancy GEF SLN Snow Leopard Network Snow Leopard Conservancy Acacia Conservation Fund Partners

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