Snow leopard fitted with GPS collar

15/01/2007 00:00:00 A new milestone has been reached this week in snow leopard research and conservation through the use of high-technology to study their ecology. The snow leopard is a magnificent predator and flagship species for one of the last, great wilderness regions on earth – the spectacular mountain ranges of Asia, including the Himalayas, Karakorams, Hindu Kush, Pamirs, Tien Shans, and Altai ranges. Yet the snow leopard faces pressures that are bringing this species closer to extinction and populations of the cat are in decline in many parts of its range.

Because of the urgent nature of the threats to the snow leopard’s long-term survival, there is an immediate need to address information gaps that prevent appropriate and well focused conservation actions to be undertaken. The International Snow Leopard Trust (ISLT), in cooperation with WWF-Pakistan and the NWFP Wildlife Department recently launched a 2-year study of large carnivores in Chitral Gol National Park (CGNP). The study is funded through the Protected Areas Management Project (PAMP) with funding from UNDP-GEF. In October 2006 a state-of-the-art satellite radio-collaring component for snow leopards was added to this project. In early November, biologists from NWFP Wildlife department along with Javed Khan and Jaffarudddin of WWF-Pakistan joined Project Leader Dr. Tom McCarthy of ISLT, in placing 15 traps within CGNP in hopes of capturing 5 leopards by the end of January. In less than 12 days they were rewarded with their first capture. On 17 November, a 35 kg female snow leopard was captured and fitted with a GPS-Satellite collar that will provide researchers with an unprecedented amount of precise data on snow leopard movements and habitat use. The collar contains a GPS which will calculate the cat’s exact position several times each day and then uplink the data via the Argos satellite system and back to the researchers by email.

The female snow leopard was captured high on Purdum Mali ridge (which means cave of the snow leopard in Chitrali). This is the same ridge where Dr. George Schaller took his first picture of a wild snow leopard some 3 decades ago. Dr. McCarthy said it was a fitting place for another first in the study and conservation of these magnificent yet secretive cats.

The morning after the capture, the signal from the leopard’s collar indicated she was moving and had traveled a substantial distance overnight. The collar was also successful in making several GPS locations during that period which showed the technology is working as planned.

By utilizing the latest GPS satellite radio-collar technology, researchers hoped gain critical data on snow leopard home-range size, movement and activity patterns, use of travel corridors, interactions with other leopards, and human-snow leopard conflicts (snow leopard habitat use in relation to human habitation and livestock pastures).

Ultimately the information gained will allow implementation of appropriate management strategies that are based on a much improved understanding of snow leopard habitat requirements and ecology. Recommendations can then be made for best-practice initiatives in wildlife conservation within Pakistan and across snow leopard territory; including recommendations for new or expanded protected areas and improvements in management methods

The name selected for the snow leopard is Bayad-e-Kohsaar, which in Urdu means In Memory of Mountains, to honor the many conservationists who recently lost their lives in a tragic helicopter accident in Nepal.