Snow leopard trust expands into Mongolia’s grasslands
Snow leopard trust expands into Mongolia’s grasslands.
Snow leopard trust expands into Mongolia’s grasslands for long term study. Expanding into Gurvansaikhan has effectively tripled the area for survey as part of a long-term snow leopard study in Mongolia’s South Gobi province, to a total of 4.500 square kilometers. When the long-term study started, biologists focused on a core area of 1,500 square kilometers in the Tost-Tosonbumba Mountains. The snow leopard population there was thought to be isolated due to the flat, open steppe that surrounded the mountain range. But data from satellite tracking collars and research cameras soon showed three snow leopards crossing wide stretches of inhospitable landscape and migrating to neighboring mountain ranges. Now biologists are doing camera surveys in multiple mountain ranges to estimate snow leopard populations, study population trends, and look for evidence of snow leopard migration. The long term study is a joint project of Snow Leopard Trust and Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation in cooperation with the Mongolia Ministry of Nature, Environmental and Tourism, and the Mongolia Academy of Sciences.
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