Amazing snow leopard sightings

WWF Canada

A snow leopard, eyes burning bright and distinctive darks rosettes on its fur, rubs its cheek gently on a rocky outcrop. A night vision camera captures the enigmatic creature as it sprays its scent, marking its territory before disappearing into the dark.

A snow leopard (Panthera uncia) visits its ‘relic’ site at 4,200 m in Phudongphu, Wangchuck Centennial Park, Bhutan. This is a spot where it repeatedly marks its territory. © Royal Government of Bhutan (DoFPS) and WWF

This extraordinary scene is from a new cache of video and images taken through a camera trap study by the Royal Government of Bhutan and WWF in Wangchuck Centennial Park, the country’s largest protected area. The cameras filmed a range of both predator and prey species ranging from the Tibetan wolf to the musk deer, suggests this protected area is a key refuge for Himalayan biodiversity.
“It’s thrilling to actually see snow leopards—perhaps the most elusive of all the mountain species in the Himalayas—engage in behavior we would otherwise only read about,” said WWF’s Dr. Rinjan Shrestha who led the research team in Wangchuck Centennial Park.
 

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0I1o4QhWlQ[/youtube]

 
Studying snow leopards
Wangchuck Centennial Park connects two protected areas lying to the east and west to create a contiguous protected zone covering the entire northern frontier of Bhutan, which links to the Sacred Himalayan Landscape in Nepal and India, and India’s Western Arunachal Landscape.
Bhutan is the only place on Earth where the habitat of snow leopards and tigers intersect.
WWF and the government are focusing on this protected area to advance the limited information available on snow leopards in Bhutan. The project aims to:

  • Identify snow leopard hotspots
  • Assess the abundance of prey species like blue sheep
  • Train park staff in field monitoring techniques

“The snow leopard images shows the incredible richness of wildlife thriving here and proves why the park must be supported by donor agencies for conservation,” said Dr. Pema Gyamtsho, Bhutan’s Minister of Agriculture and Forests.
WWF’s role
WWF has worked to preserve Bhutan’s rich biodiversity and natural heritage for decades and is the only international conservation organization with a permanent presence in the country.
“WWF has a special commitment to Wangchuck Centennial Park because we were invited to co-manage it with the government in 2009,” said Shubash Lohani of WWF’s Eastern Himalayas program. “It was the first time Bhutan entrusted a non governmental entity to co-manage a protected area together with the government.”
Snow leopard facts

  • Snow leopards are an endangered species
  • Their total population in the wild numbers between 4,500-7,500
  • Threats are mounting – from retaliatory killing, loss of habitat and poaching.
  • Climate change impacts could result in the loss of as much as 30 percent of snow leopard habitat in the Himalayas.