Wildlife photographer and biologist, Oriol Alamany and his wife and expedition partner, Eulàlia Vicens share news of their most recent photographic expedition to the Himalayas in 2019.

 
 
 
 

“This was our third winter trip to the Himalayas looking for the Snow Leopard. Unlike the previous two years, there was a lot more snow this season, and there were more avalanches on the road. We suffered several breakdowns of our cars during the days on the access route, and the governments of India and Pakistan were in full and worrying military escalation. Spotting the snow leopard is never easy in these Asian countries.

Happily, Eulàlia Vicens and I already have the knowledge of previous trips, and we have learned to accept the incidents that always arise in an adventure of this kind. We were both fully determined to complete our photographic work on this big cat so that upon our return we could tell its story to the European public and make them aware of the need for its conservation.

Upon reaching our destination, a village at more than 4000 meters high near the border of India with Tibet, we were surprised by the occurrence of new homesteads and the presence of some photographers and wildlife watchers. When we came here for the first time two years ago, we were alone, but now tourism is also arriving to these remote areas. More people behind the snow leopard means more jobs and income for the local population, which makes them more respectful to the predator.

This winter we walked a lot on deep snow and waited for hours and hours in the cold but also enjoyed nothing less than eight sightings, some very good ones and some extremely short or far away. Four of them were of a female with her two young that we already knew from the previous winter. It was comforting to see the juveniles healthy and already grown a year later, playing in the deep snow, climbing cliffs, browsing everywhere, learning the importance of territorial marking …

As in previous years, Eulàlia and I, with the help of our usual local experts, did our photographic work under the premise of minimal disturbance, using powerful telephoto lenses and keeping a careful distance. We do not want to disturb the snow leopards, interfering the least with their natural behavior, a problem that can arise if in the future the number of visitors grows too much.

Observing these animals in the wild, in the immensity of the Himalaya snowy mountains, is a privilege that both of us will never forget. We hope now our images can contribute to knowledge of the snow leopard and help to protect them.”
Oriol Alamany & Eulàlia Vicens

All photographs are courtesy of Oriol Alamany You can learn more about his photography on his website.

2018 Annual Report

The Snow Leopard Conservancy has always stood for community-based conservation action as the snow leopard’s best hope for survival.

 

Photo: Tashi R. Ghale

Ganga Ram Regmi and Rinzin Lama install a trail camera to monitor snow leopards and other wildlife in Nepal.

 

Photo: Pema Mustangi

Pema Mustangi works with Nepali herders in using Foxlights and other non-invasive predator deterrents. These efforts contribute to reductions in livestock depredation by snow leopards.

 

Photo: Tashi R. Ghale

Tashi Ghale received a 2018 Disney Conservation Hero Award for his work with the Conservancy as a citizen scientist, particularly using his knowledge of his homeland of Manang, Nepal, to capture photographs of wild snow leopards.

 

Photo: BWCDO

Ghulam Mohammad manages conservation and education programs in Pakistan under the Baltistan Wildlife Conservation & Development Organization’s Project Snow Leopard.

 

The Land of Snow Leopard (LOSL) Network includes over 100 organizations and individuals, with 7 Country Coordinators. The program area spans more than 600,000 sq. miles, and the countries and languages of Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and the Altai and Buryat Republics of Russia. LOSL members collect interviews, stories, photos, and videos for a unique data base. The summaries allow for sharing the data, identifiying commonalities, creating reports, and developing educational tools. Our members are already taking an active lead in reviving traditional practices that save snow leopards. This program is a unique attempt to standardize the integration of culturally important data into conservation planning and action for snow leopards.

 

Charleen Gavette, Conservancy Program Officer, clarifies a point at a recent workshop. LOSL members created a geo-spatial App to record observational data, including wildlife sightings and poaching incidents. These data can support the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Plan globalsnowleopard.org and its goal of protecting 20 landscape-level snow leopard populations by the year 2020.

 

Slava Chelteuv is both Shaman and Guardian of the Sacred Mountain Irbis Tuu, (Snow Leopard Mountain) in the Altai Republic of Russia.

 

Photo: BBCIC

Mongolian Shaman Buyanbadrakh honors the mountain spirits during a gathering of the LOSL Network.

 

Photo: BBCIC

Norbu Lama at the base of Sacred Monkh Saridag Mountain where he conducts the annual ceremony to honor Snow Leopard as the community’s protector. This area is part of the new Territory of Traditional Use, a designation that gives local people the authority to conduct activities such as establishing tourism, protesting mining, or forbidding hunting.

 

Photo: BBCIC

Zahaparkul Raymbekov is Guardian of the Sacred Site Arashan in Kyrgyzstan. Snow leopards visit this site. Zhaparkul also serves as intermediary for visitors or local residents who wish to receive the blessings of the ancestors.

 

To Our Supporters:

Donations made in 2018 made a significant difference for conservation of wild snow leopards. They have helped the Conservancy move toward greater collaboration and alliance-making with organizations that strengthen our capacity to facilitate community-based conservation. For example, by joining the Mountain Partnership, which is hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Conservancy is better able to bring governments into progrmas that improve the lives of the mountain communities while protecting mountain environments.

The Conservancy led a policy study on how major structural changes taking place in Nepal’s government might impact conservation. Thanks to your support providing the required co-financing, we received a major three-year grant from the Darwin Initiative. With this grant, our team is able to take the lessons learned from our policy study and apply them in two areas of Nepal to help local communities fund and promote snow leopard conservation. Activities being carried out by our Nepali partners include development of training manuals for newly elected local government officials, a baseline of snow leopard and prey populations, and creation of a special Snow Leopard trek as part of new enterprise development.

Alliances on a smaller scale can also be highly effective. In Kyrgyzstan, the snow leopard was the mascot for the second biennial World Nomad Games. As the Games drew some 10,000 spectators, this presented a great opportunity for our Land of the Snow Leopard Network to educate people about Kyrgyzstan’s sacred big cats. Your funding underwrote a play performed by middle and high school students based on the traditional precept that tragedy will befall anyone who kills a snow leopard.

Plase join us in celebrating the local champions of  snow leopard conservation. We are so grateful for your support to both the Conservancy and these mountain communities.

Rodney Jackson,
Founder-Director

2018 Annual Report  

On Saturday, May 18, 2019, the Conservancy participated in the Cosley Zoo’s Endangered Species Day event. Cosley Zoo is an AZA accredited facility that is home to native Illinois wildlife. Their natural habitat exhibits display white-tailed deer, red fox, bobcats, a coyote, a black-crowned night heron, Blanding’s turtles, and more. Each year, Cosley selects several large-scale conservation initiatives with whom to partner. The zoo is also involved in the rearing of young Blanding’s turtles, an endangered Illinois native reptile, and releasing them into their natural wetland habitat. Cosley Zoo is a center for animal education and conservation and is always welcoming to the Snow Leopard Conservancy as we share the message of conservation of wildlife. Their Earth Day event that we were planning on attending was unfortunately cancelled due to snow, but the weather for the Endangered Species Day event was beautiful, and attendance was good. Our outreach educator, Shavaun Kidd spoke about snow leopard conservation to attendees, who also had the opportunity to purchase a variety of fund-raising items from snow leopard plush to our Conservancy shirts. We look forward to being part of next year’s events.

Kathy Ah San is the Snow Leopard Conservancy’s new Admin Manager. She joined the staff in March of 2019.

Kathy has studied biology, business, and teaching. Over the course of a long work life, she has worked in a wide range of occupations, including research, teaching, and accounting.

Kathy is happy to be a part of the staff of the Snow Leopard Conservancy where she can use her skills and education to further the goals of this wonderful organization.

You can read more about Kathy here.