Honey production sweetens snow leopard conservation in Kyrgyzstan
SHAMSHY, Kyrgyzstan — “I was only 9 when I first saw a snow leopard with my father. He was a ranger bringing injured animals found in the mountains to the…
India cheetah births spark interest in fast felines in neighboring Nepal
KATHMANDU — News of four cheetah cubs being born recently in India has sparked interest in the species in the conservation community in neighboring Nepal, where the big cat’s historical…
As Himalayas thaw, snow leopards scramble for habitat: Q&A with Bikram Shrestha
KATHMANDU — When researchers last year confirmed the presence of the manul, the “world’s grumpiest cat,” on the world’s highest mountain, they immediately looked at past records of the elusive…
Himalayan catfight looms as tigers, leopards venture into snow leopard land
KATHMANDU — A tiger sits quietly surrounded by trees, observing something in the distance. It then roars and darts toward its target: a leopard that jumps down from a tree.…
‘Grumpiest cat’ leaves its calling card on the world’s highest mountain
KATHMANDU — If you were a grumpy cat, you’d probably want to avoid company. And if you were the world’s grumpiest, as David Attenborough once described the elusive manul, what…
Hunting takes its toll on Himalaya’s blue sheep, favored prey of snow leopards
KATHMANDU — The Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in western Nepal is known for its pristine high-altitude grasslands, and buzzes with helicopter traffic every October and November, at the onset of winter.…
Who let the dogs out? Feral canines pose a threat to Nepal’s wildlife
KATHMANDU — Four of the five days of the Nepali Hindu festival of Tihar, which occurs at the same time as the better-known Deepavali, are dedicated to animals. Kukur Tihar,…
Snow leopard population overestimated in Nepal? DNA study suggests it may be
In September 2014, Nepali zoologist Madhu Chetri asked his professor Morten Odden a strange question during their fieldwork. "Are you tired?" he asked Odden as the duo from the Inland…
Conservation may offer common ground in Afghan conflict
War, drugs, corruption, and terrorism are terms Westerners are more likely to associate with Afghanistan than biodiversity conservation. But Alex Dehgan, a conservation technologist who runs the Washington D.C.-based Conservation…
Pumas engineer their environment, providing habitat for other species
New research suggests that mountain lions in the western United States play an outsize role in changing their surroundings, leading the authors of the study to suggest that the big…
Films celebrate big cats on World Wildlife Day
Big cats around the world face many challenges, from diminishing prey populations and habitat degradation, to poaching for their meat and body parts. A current spike in the killing of…
Collateral damage: Snow leopards and trophy hunting in Kyrgyzstan
Update: Since the publication of this story, the IUCN has downgraded the conservation status of snow leopards from Endangered to Vulnerable. We are also interested in hearing informed arguments in…
Nepal burns more than 4,000 confiscated wildlife parts
On Monday, the Nepalese government set fire to more than 4,000 items of confiscated wildlife parts in an attempt to demonstrate zero tolerance for the illegal wildlife trade. The stockpile…
Over 200 snow leopards killed every year: new report
now leopards may be hard to spot in the wild, but they make easy targets for poachers, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. Between…
Understanding the ghost of the mountain
The grayish-white form of the ghost of the mountain slinks through the snowcapped slopes of Central Asia. Its remote, harsh habitat, cryptic coat and elusive nature have impeded investigation and…
Taking technology out in the cold: working to conserve snow leopards
A very alert snow leopard. Photo credit: Bernard Landgraf, Wikimedia Commons. Conservation work is important not just in tropical rainforests, but also in snow-covered peaks and steep slopes, the home…
Four donors pledge $80 million for big cats
Four donors from around the world have pledged $80 million to cat conservation group, Panthera. The money will fund projects working to preserve tigers, lions, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards,…
Snow leopards and other mammals caught on camera trap in Uzbekistan (photos)
Scientists knew that snow leopards (Panthera uncia) still survived in the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan, but late last year they captured the first ever photos. Camera traps in the…
Central Park Zoo debuts baby snow leopard twins (photos)
Twin snow leopard cubs. Photo by Julie Larsen Maher © Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo is debuting a pair of snow leopard cubs that were…
Booming cashmere trade eating up habitat for snow leopards, saiga, and wild yak
Snow leopards, wild yaks and other iconic wildlife on the world's highest mountains and great steppes are becoming "fashion victims" of the surging global trade in cashmere, new research has…
An avalanche of decline: snow leopard populations are plummeting
Snow leopard in the Toronto Zoo. Photo by: John Vetterli. The trading of big cat pelts is nothing new, but recent demand for snow leopard pelts and taxidermy mounts has…
Conservation success: markhor population climbing
Pakistan's national mammal, the markhor, is making a remarkable comeback in the country as a result of community conservation efforts, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Surveys this year…
First snow leopards collared in Afghanistan as species faces rising threat from climate change
The research team conducts a dental exam of a snow leopard prior to its release. Photo by: Anthony Simms/WCS. Scientists have captured and collared two snow leopards (Panthera uncia), arguably…
First video footage of wild snow leopard cubs in their den in Mongolia
Field Scientist Mattia Colombo carefully prepares to place a cub back into its den. Courtesy of Panthera Panthera, a wild cat conservation group, and the Snow Leopard Trust have released…
Animal picture of the day: snow leopard spotted in Afghanistan
Snow leopard in the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan caught on camera trap. Photo by the Wildlife Conservation Society (2009). A new study documents a healthy population of snow leopards in…
Viable population of snow leopards still roam Afghanistan (pictures)
Snow leopard in the Wakhan Corridor caught on camera trap. Photo by: Wildlife Conservation Society. Decades of war and poverty has not exterminated snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in Afghanistan according…
Afghanistan’s recovery effort drives poaching of rare wildlife
Few people associate Afghanistan with wildlife and it would come as a surprise to many that the war-torn, but fledging democracy is home to snow leopards, Persian leopards, five species…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Forest behind bars: Logging network operating out of Cambodian prison in the Cardamoms
- Indigenous communities in Argentina’s Chaco fear another heavy fire season in 2023
- As tourism booms in India’s Western Ghats, habitat loss pushes endangered frogs to the edge
- In a Bolivian protected area torn up for gold, focus is on limiting damage
Oceans
- As one Indian Ocean tuna stock faces collapse, nations scramble to save others
- Conservationists aim to save critically endangered European eels on Italy’s Po River
- Expedition to Pacific ecosystems hopes to learn from their resilience
- Illegal trawling ravages Tunisian seagrass meadows crucial for fish
Amazon Conservation
- Majority of Brazil’s Congress votes to restrict Indigenous land advances
- Protected areas store a year’s worth of CO₂ emissions, study reveals
- Indigenous land rights key to curbing deforestation and restoring lands: Study
- World Bank: Brazil faces $317 billion in annual losses to Amazon deforestation
Land rights and extractives
- Dams and plantations upend livelihoods in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo River Valley
- Fish deaths near Rio Tinto mine in Madagascar dredge up community grievances
- Award-winning, Indigenous peace park dragged into fierce conflict in Myanmar
- Logging permit threatens Quilombola bioeconomic ‘paradise’ in the Amazon
Endangered Environmentalists
- Indigenous chief shot in head in Brazil’s ‘palm oil war’ region; crisis group launched
- ‘You don’t kill people to protect forests’: New Thai parks chief raises alarm
- Vietnam’s environmental NGOs face uncertain status, shrinking civic space
- ‘We lost the biggest ally’: Nelly Marubo on her friend Bruno Pereira’s legacy
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
- A utopia of clean air and wet peat amid Sumatra’s forest fire ‘hell’
Conservation Effectiveness
- Study shows Kenyan elephant shrew may be adapting to human disturbance, drought
- Saving forests to protect coastal ecosystems: Japan sets historic example
- From scarcity to abundance: The secret of the ‘peace farmers’ of Colombia
- For key Bangladesh wetland, bid for Ramsar status is no guarantee of protection
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
