How honey production helps the conservation of snow leopards
Feb 17, 2024 10:00:55 GMT 1
Post by ranibilkis88888 on Feb 17, 2024 10:00:55 GMT 1
Was only 9 years old when I first saw a snow leopard with my father. He was a forest ranger who brought injured animals found in the mountains to the veterinarian,” says asanbek sasukilov, 62, a beekeeper and shepherd. “I was sitting near the cage. Suddenly, the snow leopard started roaring and I ran away.” for sasukilov, snow leopards ( panthera uncia ) have always been a part of his life. The same is true for those from other communities living in the area surrounding the ala-too mountains in northern kyrgyzstan. The difference is that they are now involved in big cat conservation programs i WhatsApp Number List mplemented by the snow leopard trust (slt) and the snow leopard foundation in kyrgyzstan (slfk) that promote beekeeping, agroecology and ecotourism as alternative livelihoods to pastoralism, in an effort to avoid conflicts with wildlife such as rare big cats. Here, locals have always seen snow leopards on mountain tops while herding cows or sheep. Big cats are also part of popular stories such as farmer beisheukaz balasy's memory of a snow leopard that was filmed for a movie during the soviet era. Both sasukilov and balasy now keep bees in shamshy, a village of 1,000 people that is a 90-minute drive from the capital, bishkek. Once outside the city, the gray cityscape disappears, melting into blue skies and snowy mountains. Herds of sheep, cows and horses graze on the rural roads of this border area, located a few kilometers from kazakhstan and, beyond, china, hidden behind high mountains. Here in the far north of kyrgyzstan, almost 200 square kilometers of the snow leopard's habitat is shared with other wildlife such as ibex, lynx, wild boar, wolves and jackals.
This is part of the shamshy nature reserve , an area co-managed by the kyrgyz government, local communities and the two snow leopard ngos. Although shamshy was once a hotspot for trophy hunters, it is now a snow leopard sanctuary where stakeholders manage projects including research, community education, ecotourism, and ranger training and compensation. Hear them roar? Kyrgyzstan is the fourth most mountainous country in the world, with an average elevation of 2,989 meters, with a snow leopard population estimated at 300-400 individuals living along its highest peaks. The species ranges across 12 asian countries, from india to kazakhstan, tajikistan and even mongolia, and faces many of the same risks as other big cats globally, with its population listed as vulnerable to extinction and declining on the red list. From the iucn. “the main dangers to snow leopards are poaching, mining, roads, hunting and competition with livestock. All of these threats will be amplified by climate change,” says koustubh sharma, scientific and conservation director of the slt, in an interview. “indeed, the climate emergency has a double impact: snow leopards approach villages to look for food, where they possibly attack livestock. On the other hand, herders are pushed to the top of the mountains to find better.
Pastures for their animals, closer to their ecosystem.” to assess and monitor snow leopard populations, the global snow leopard and ecosystem protection program (gslep) is coordinating an effort in all countries where the big cat lives, in collaboration with their governments and more than 50 organizations. “although some regions of kyrgyzstan are now well studied and populations are known, there are still many gaps,” says bastien chaix, science educator at osi-panthera , who has studied snow leopards in kyrgyzstan since 2013. from population studies reliable camera traps and genetic analyzes are quite recent, it is difficult to have a clear trend. In fact, 20-30 years ago, the only methods to estimate populations consisted of a survey of signs of presence (footprints, urine marks, scrapes, droppings, etc.), which gave an idea of the distribution, but not of precise density, as is possible with modern techniques.” according to chaix, the core of a long-term conservation strategy is based on the participation of local communities: “integrating nature conservation with the local economy, in a mutually beneficial way, is the best way to ensure sustainability and eliminate gradually the conflicts that may arise. ," he says. “by generating additional income for local communities, it allows them to value wildlife and reduce their economic dependence on domestic livestock and problems of coexistence with wildlife.
This is part of the shamshy nature reserve , an area co-managed by the kyrgyz government, local communities and the two snow leopard ngos. Although shamshy was once a hotspot for trophy hunters, it is now a snow leopard sanctuary where stakeholders manage projects including research, community education, ecotourism, and ranger training and compensation. Hear them roar? Kyrgyzstan is the fourth most mountainous country in the world, with an average elevation of 2,989 meters, with a snow leopard population estimated at 300-400 individuals living along its highest peaks. The species ranges across 12 asian countries, from india to kazakhstan, tajikistan and even mongolia, and faces many of the same risks as other big cats globally, with its population listed as vulnerable to extinction and declining on the red list. From the iucn. “the main dangers to snow leopards are poaching, mining, roads, hunting and competition with livestock. All of these threats will be amplified by climate change,” says koustubh sharma, scientific and conservation director of the slt, in an interview. “indeed, the climate emergency has a double impact: snow leopards approach villages to look for food, where they possibly attack livestock. On the other hand, herders are pushed to the top of the mountains to find better.
Pastures for their animals, closer to their ecosystem.” to assess and monitor snow leopard populations, the global snow leopard and ecosystem protection program (gslep) is coordinating an effort in all countries where the big cat lives, in collaboration with their governments and more than 50 organizations. “although some regions of kyrgyzstan are now well studied and populations are known, there are still many gaps,” says bastien chaix, science educator at osi-panthera , who has studied snow leopards in kyrgyzstan since 2013. from population studies reliable camera traps and genetic analyzes are quite recent, it is difficult to have a clear trend. In fact, 20-30 years ago, the only methods to estimate populations consisted of a survey of signs of presence (footprints, urine marks, scrapes, droppings, etc.), which gave an idea of the distribution, but not of precise density, as is possible with modern techniques.” according to chaix, the core of a long-term conservation strategy is based on the participation of local communities: “integrating nature conservation with the local economy, in a mutually beneficial way, is the best way to ensure sustainability and eliminate gradually the conflicts that may arise. ," he says. “by generating additional income for local communities, it allows them to value wildlife and reduce their economic dependence on domestic livestock and problems of coexistence with wildlife.