THE SNOW LEOPARD PROGRAMME

Snow leopard Mongol returns home

Snow leopard Mongol returns home

Snow leopard Mongol returns home

Snow leopard Mongol returns home

Launched in 2010, the Siberian Snow Leopard programme is to be implemented within five years’ time

16

One of the project’s primary tasks is to raise awareness about snow leopard conservation efforts among communities in southern Siberia

The Russian Geographical Society’s Khakassia branch provides assistance to researchers working in the nature preserves Khakassky and Pozarym

Over the last six months, researchers have installed more than a hundred camera traps, which are equipped with motion sensors, so they take a picture of any object that crosses their path

Camera traps will be used to count the population of snow leopards and their prey as well as to trace the migratory patterns of both

Snow leopards will also be surveyed with the help of satellite tracking collars

The help of satellite tracking collars will enable researchers to learn more about the migration of leopards and their relations within home ranges

The snow leopard programme involves an analysis of the habitat range and the seasonal migration patterns of the leopard population

24

The snow leopard, or ounce (Uncia uncia), is the only species of the genus Uncia

An adult snow leopard can grow up to 120-125 cm in length and weigh up to 45 kg

These big brownish-grey cats with large dark-brown rosettes differ from leopards proper (Panthera pardus) by the colour and rich texture of their fur

Snow leopards are found in the mountains of Central Asian (Himalayas) and southern Siberia at middle to high altitudes

Less fertile than the other felids, female snow leopards do not give birth every year

Every snow leopard has its own territory

Snow leopards mark the territory in a variety of ways, and they make regular rounds of their hunting grounds, always moving along the same paths

The snow leopard is at the top of the food pyramid, with rival predators offering little to no competition

The snow leopard can kill prey three times its own weight

Mountain goats and rams, roe deer, wild boar, marmots, hares and snowcocks make up the greater part of their diet, complemented by grass and leaves in summertime

Russia is home to the northernmost snow leopard population