First Pictures: Snow Leopards Rebounding in Afghanistan

That's the Spot

Photograph courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society

This scratching snow leopard is among several of the big cats recently photographed by the camera traps in Afghanistan.

The traps, which are triggered by motion, were placed at 16 locations throughout the Wakhan Corridor by local Afghan men who are being trained as rangers to help monitor and protect wildlife, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

(See pictures: "'Lost' Deer, Rare Cuckoo Caught in Camera Traps.")

Published July 18, 2011

One Big Scratching Post

Photograph courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society

A snow leopard is caught rubbing up against a rock in the Afghan mountains.

The new snow leopard research is part of larger efforts to safeguard wildlife and natural resources in Afghanistan's rural areas, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The snow leopard study also comes on the heels of other recent work by the conservation group, which showed many of Afghanistan's large mammals are doing surprisingly well in the nation's remaining forests.

(Related video: "Big Cats Wild for Calvin Klein Cologne?")

Published July 18, 2011

Cat With a Bad Rap

Photograph courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society

A snow leopard peers over a snowbank in a recent camera-trap picture. The big cats have earned a bad reputation among some people across their range because of the big cats' knack for preying on livestock such as sheep and goats, Zahler noted.

"In Afghanistan, however, our data strongly suggests that they aren't taking much livestock at all, and I'd hypothesize that's because densities of their primary prey—ibex and Marco Polo sheep—are still relatively high," he said. "In turn, locals here don't tend to view snow leopards the way they may elsewhere in the world."

Zahler hopes to keep it that way by promoting projects in the region such as leopard-proof corrals to protect livestock.

(Read more about snow leopards in National Geographic magazine.)

Published July 18, 2011

Not Out of the Woods

Photograph courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society

A snow leopard negotiates a rocky slope in a recent picture.

The Wakhan Corridor's snow leopard numbers may look healthy, but poaching remains a danger—as does capture of the cats for the live-animal trade. (Related: "Record Cache of Snow Leopard Parts Seized in China [2007].")

Each of these activities has been documented in the region, and Zahler said such concerns are magnified, because even healthy snow leopard populations aren't large.

"Historically the number that's been used for Afghanistan is about a hundred snow leopards," he explained. "We don't know what the actual number is, but if that's [reasonably] accurate, the loss of even a few snow leopards is a big problem."

Published July 18, 2011