The Kyrgyz Department of Hunting and Natural Resource Management, Snow Leopard Foundation Kyrgyzstan, and the Snow Leopard Trust have teamed up for an exciting new conservation venture. They are turning a 100 square mile hunting concession into a nature reserve.
This area, known as Shamshy, was once used to hunt ibex commercially. But now Shamshy’s ibex will be strictly protected. According to Dr. Charu Mishra of the Snow Leopard Trust, this could see their population triple in the next decade.
If Dr. Mishra’s prediction proves correct, this will greatly benefit the area’s snow leopards. One of the major threats facing Kyrgyzstan’s snow leopards is the loss of wild prey (Jackson, Mallon, Mishra, Chundaway, & Habib, 2008). When snow leopards (Panthera uncia) have a hard time finding natural prey, they sometimes target domestic animals. This can notably impact local peoples’ livelihoods, which leads to retaliatory killings of snow leopards (Jackson, Mishra, McCarthy, & Ale, 2010). So bolstering ibex populations in Shamshy will help both Panthera uncia and their human neighbors.
In fact, this new nature reserve was designed with local people in mind. Not only will they be hired to work as rangers, but they will maintain their right to graze their animals in Shamshy: as long as they do so in an ecologically friendly manner. This should prevent some of the bad blood that has developed when local people have been shut out of protected areas (Campbell, 2000).
But this new sanctuary will be used for more than responsible grazing. Education, research, and ethical tourism will all take place here. Should this innovative strategy prove successful, the Snow Leopard Trust and its partners might replicate it elsewhere.
Click here to read the Snow Leopard Trust’s original press release.
The Jaguar 
Great to know that something is being done to protect them. I hear it is very difficult to spot a snow leopard these days. Great image by the way!
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It’s always been difficult to spot a snow leopard, but it’s even harder now. They’ve always had low population densities because of the harsh environments they live in, but human activity has made their situation even worse. Hopefully moves like this will help snow leopards without making life too hard for local herders.
Thank you, I rather like that image too :)
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You will love the recent news from the Nature Conservation Foundation, who have worked with villagers in Himachal Pradesh have changed the way they manage land to increase the endangered cat’s wild prey, while an insurance scheme offers compensation for lost stock. bit.ly/1OvUA5J
Seems like snow leopard conservation organisations are leading the change in truly community driven conservation. It is great to see!
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Thank you Margi! I read that story on The Guardian shortly after it came out, and it really made me happy. You’re observation’s spot-on too, most of the organizations trying to help snow leopards seem to excel at community driven conservation. When you get a chance I suggest looking through the Snow Leopard Trust’s website. I’m obviously not affiliated with them, but I love their approach. They’re one of the best international orgs I know of when it comes to working with local people.
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Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness.
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This is amazing news! I’ve met members of Snow Leopard Trust for class before. The work they do is pretty incredible.
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Yes, I’m a big supporter of theirs. They really understand how to work with people to encourage tolerance of big cats, which is an invaluable asset.
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