WCN Wildlife Conservation Network | Snow Leopard Conservancy

Dr. Rodney Jackson

With almost thirty years of experience in the field, Dr. Rodney Jackson is the leading expert on snow leopards and their habitat. He received the 1981 Rolex Award for Enterprise for his groundbreaking radio-tracking study of snow leopards in Nepal. He was the first to radio collar a snow leopard in the wild and pioneered the standardization of snow leopard tracking methods.

Snow leopard pelt, Photo: Rodney Jackson

Threats

The strikingly beautiful snow leopard remains one of the world's most mysterious cats. Rarely sighted, it inhabits the high mountains of Central Asia over an expansive twelve-country range. Although snow leopards pose no threat to humans, they are hunted as a result of preying on livestock. They are also endangered due to loss of habitat and poaching for their pelt and bones.

Constructing a predator-proof corral, Photo: SLC India Trust

Solutions

The Snow Leopard Conservancy (SLC) engages local people in a discussion of their needs and ideas on how to live harmoniously with snow leopards. SLC builds upon traditional beliefs and empowers communities to benefit economically by maintaining a balanced ecosystem for the snow leopard. Employment, education and alternative-income projects, such as tourist homestay lodging, are the cornerstone of SLC's success.

SUV Needed to Protect Snow Leopards in
Mongolia and Russia

Among SLC's priority initiatives in 2012 is the delineation and protection of critical snow leopard habitat along the Mongolia-Russia border, where SLC is working in a transboundary collaboration with Mongolian and Russian biologists and local villagers. A reliable, low-mileage Japanese SUV (Toyota Land Cruiser or Mitsubishi Palero) is greatly needed and would enhance the local capacity for identifying and mapping key snow leopard areas, tackling poaching and retributive killing, and engaging local people in the species' conservation. The estimated cost is $20,000-25,000. If you may be able to contribute, please contact SLC Program Manager Eve Schaeffer at eve@wildnet.org.