First Pictures: Snow Leopards Rebounding in Afghanistan

On the Prowl
Photograph courtesy Wildlife Conservation Society
A snow leopard recently photographed prowling the mountains of Afghanistan has plenty of company, as revealed by the first camera-trap pictures of the big cats in the war-torn country.
The pictures, taken by a team led by the Wildlife Conservation Society, show that a surprisingly robust population of possibly a hundred animals is prowling the remote Wakhan Corridor (see map).
Previous estimates have suggested that perhaps only 4,500 to 7,500 snow leopards—considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature—live throughout the mountain ranges of Central Asia.
"Afghanistan has been devastated by 30 years of conflict, so you might not expect there to be a lot of large wildlife left. But there does appear to be a fairly large population of snow leopards, and that's wonderful," said Peter Zahler, who launched the Wildlife Conservation Society's Afghanistan program in 2006.
"Wakhan Corridor is a very isolated area of high-elevation mountains, so it has probably been less affected by conflict than other parts of Afghanistan." (Related: "Afghanistan Bright Spot: Wildlife Surviving in War Zones.")
The snow leopard research appeared June 29 in theInternational Journal of Environmental Studies.
—Brian Handwerk
Published July 18, 2011
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

1 comments

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colin harvey

i watched your film on the snow leopards in afgahganistan andwas so put of by the way the pepole went out and snared the leopard bye the leg. it was in a lot of stress and pain the pepole who were doing this seemed to be morelike a load of ameturs to say this was to help the snow leopards seems wrong i have seen a lot of foxes taken in snares and when caught bye the leg in this way a lot of damage is done and when they went to trankalize it they took three shot to do this the vet had to sent for while the leopard was left in the snare trying to escape i am all for the consevation of these proud cats but not when these peole put them in great pain like this as there are much better ways to catch animals than leg snars.

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First Pictures: Snow Leopards Rebounding in Afghanistan

On the Prowl

That's the Spot

One Big Scratching Post

Cat With a Bad Rap

Not Out of the Woods