Thank you to everyone who helped us meet our goal!

This incredible accomplishment was only made possible by the generosity of our 260 newest donors and everyone who helped us spread the word! Not only were we able to meet our $13,000 goal, but because we did it by our April 30th deadline, every dollar has been DOUBLED!

This means that $26,000 will go to support conservation programs like Snow Leopard Enterprises, where impoverished families earn additional income and pledge to protect the snow leopards living nearby.

We cannot thank our new supporters enough for taking the leap and making their first contribution!

The special opportunity of naming this cat – the 10th male to be part of the study – was auctioned off at our Fall Event. The winner is a board member of the Snow Leopard Trust, and he has chosen to name the cat in honor of his granddaughter Catalina, who was born late last year. The Greek origin of the name Catalina means “Pure” and this new snow leopard will be named after the Mongolian translation. We are proud to welcome “Ariun” into our study in honor of Catalina and her family.

Thanks to Orjan for his 36th safe capture of a snow leopard and to Catalina, who now has a beautiful namesake roaming the mountains of Mongolia.

Mood in camp got instantly better when the siren started and the LED under “Trap alarm” lit up early evening. We rushed to the ATVs and got to the snare about 50 minutes after it had been triggered. I can’t describe the relief when I looked over a hill and saw a snow leopard lying on the other side. It was extremely windy and he had not heard us coming. The cat crawled back against the wall and lied down looking at us.

We went up to about ten meters from him and except for his eyes, he didn’t move a whisker. I didn’t want to shoot because the wind was coming from the side and the darts can easily fly more than a meter of course in such strong wind. So I took a few steps toward the cat, when I was about seven meters from him he barred all his teeth in a huge grin, saying “that is close enough”, still lying down. So I backed one step and he calmed down again and went back to just glaring at me. Had to wait for the wind to calm down for a second and then shot. We left the site and when we came back a few minutes later the cat was asleep in the same position.

Except for the wind the collaring was uneventful. It is quite difficult to gather all measurements, collect all samples and monitor vital signs when you have to put rocks on all the equipment to keep it from flying away. The cat is a new male (obviously), he weighed a little more than 44 kg and we think that he is 3-4 years old. It will be interesting to see if he is the new dominant male here. Shonkhor, the old dominant male in this range, died in summer 2011.

Now, we are eagerly waiting for the females. Pretty much the same as a lot of other guys on a Friday evening…

UPDATE: We need less than $360 to reach our New Donor Match goal of $13,000!

Are you wondering how far will your support of snow leopard protection will go? When you support the Snow Leopard Trust, you are ensuring that snow leopards are protected in important areas of 5 countries where snow leopards live. Together, these five nations contain 75% of the world’s population of wild snow leopards. In each country, research, education and protection programs work in tandem to better protect these cats.

China: We are working with monks from the Gongsa Monastery, who are helping us with research and get our conservation message reach many people in the area.

India: 10 villages are participating in conservation programs—either through livestock insurance programs or by identifying grazing-free reserves. And education programs are helping change attitudes towards snow leopards.

Kyrgyzstan: Last year, staff found that 18 cats inhabit the study area in the Sarychat-Ertash Reserve, and that poaching by outside hunters is a growing threat.  Now, the Snow Leopard Enterprises handicrafts program has re-initiated work with 3 communities, and reached out to 2 more.

Mongolia: The Snow Leopard Enterprises program is working with 260 households to make handicrafts.  A pilot livestock insurance program, modeled after the program in India, has engaged 32 households to limit impacts from snow leopard’s taking wildlife.

Pakistan: The Snow Leopard Enterprises program and Livestock Vaccination programs continue to engage households in conservation. Last year, Researchers explored a new area for work, Gilgit-Baltisan, conducting surveys of over 9,000 households about threats to the cats.

Aztai has been traveling throughout his central home range and then to the east, meeting up with Khashaa and M9 on March 9th. Khashaa and her cub travelled together until March 23rd, and they stayed approximately four kilometers apart until the 29th.

Lasya traveled the entire central area of her home range during March, and was seen with Aztai at two separate locations between February 23rd and February 28th. It is possible that they may have mated.

Anu was on a cluster site (a potential kill) on March 5th-9th and then went on to circle the entire area of her home range. Anu met up with Khavar on February 20th-22nd, and again on the 29th. Unfortunately, Khavar slipped his collar on that same day (February 29th), and so we have not been able to tell if these two met up again. We suspect these two may have mated as well.

We have until April 30th to raise $13,000 from first time donors. If we do, every dollar will be matched, doubling the impact on snow leopard conservation efforts! We have raised a total of $12,350 so far, and we need your help to make it all the way!

Take the next step and make your first ever adoption purchase or donation today!

An adorable sleeping snow leopard cuddles up for the night! Situated right in front of our research camera, an adult cat explores the area and finally snuggles up against the chilly nighttime air.

This camera took hundreds of photographs, capturing one of the most precious moments seen in snow leopard conservation.

We have created a stop-motion film from the pictures, creating the longest video the Snow Leopard Trust has ever published! Check out this remarkable video on our YouTube page! 

Threat to snow leopards:
Research has shown that herders in snow leopard habitats can lose 3-12% of their total livestock to snow leopards per year. This causes severe economic hardship, and snow leopards are often persecuted as a result.

Working with communities to find a solution:
In 2011, the Trust supported 10 villages in their effort to run community-based conservation programs. 7 villages are managing livestock insurance programs aimed at compensating herders for livestock to snow leopards, and 3 villages established grazing-free reserves that leave land and resources open for the snow leopard’s wild prey to use.

Additionally, 20 schools in the Spiti Valley participated in multiple educational events during the year. We reached out to a total of 750 children and 50 teachers!

We center these programs on sound science and research. We used 40 research cameras to collect data for estimating snow leopard abundance and pioneered a new method to estimate prey populations. Within 5 villages, interviews were completed to assess perceptions and attitudes towards snow leopards as well.

Results:
Because you support our efforts, there were no reported cases of a snow leopard or a prey species being poached or killed within these communities!

But we can’t stop there! There were reports of a snow leopard being killed in a nearby village, a place where we are not currently active. We plan to reach out to that village this summer to see if we can partner with them and reduce the conflicts between people and snow leopards.

If you voted for us in the World Challenge or made a purchase from our store- thank you! Your support has been critical in supporting our efforts. If you take the next step and donate today, you will help us make the most of this one-of-a-kind opportunity!

But the race is on. If we don’t raise all $13,000 by the end of April, we will miss out on the match-so please make your very first gift today!

Match generously provided by the Sengupta Family, Margie Wetherald and Len Barson.