Snow Leopard

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The trust was founded in 1981 by Helen Elaine Freeman. Working as a volunteer at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, Freeman became fascinated with the snow leopards there and learned about their endangered plight. She later joined the staff of the zoo and was motivated to set up the trust to protect the snow leopard in the wild, and its habitat. She also began the trust’s philosophy of helping the people sharing the snow leopard’s habitat improve their standard of living in exchange for protecting the animal. The trust performs scientific research projects, manages community-level conservation programs, and fosters global collaboration amongst snow leopard experts and other snow leopard support groups. The organization raises money through donations, grants, fundraising events and sales of products on its website shop, and is supported by zoos and other conservation organizations. The Snow Leopard Trust is recognized as a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator, and is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, International Species Information System, and Co-Op America. Currently, the Snow Leopard Trust focuses its efforts in five snow leopard range countries: China, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Kyrgyzstan. In these countries, the trust employs and trains staff to carry out research, education, and conservation. In the seven other countries within the snow leopard range, the trust supports and collaborates with researchers and conservation organizations.

In Their Own Story

In 2008, the trust launched a long-term (10+ year) research project to take place in Mongolia’s South Gobi Province. The aim of this project is to study all aspects of snow leopard ecology, and researchers will employ a variety of methods including trap cameras and GPS radio collaring. The trust has established a base camp in the Tost Mountains, approximately 250 km (160 mi) west of the provincial capital of Dalanzadgad, and in the first wave of researchers were scientists from Argentina, Mongolia, the United States and Sweden. A total of 18 snow leopards have been equipped with GPS tracking collars. Prior to the launch of this long-term study, trust scientists captured a female snow leopard (named Bayad) in Chitral Gol National Park in northern Pakistan on 17 November 2006, fitting her with a GPS satellite collar in order to accurately collect detailed knowledge regarding the species’ movements and home range size. This was the first-ever study of wild snow leopards using GPS radio technology and was conducted by the Snow Leopard Trust in conjunction with Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province Wildlife Department and WWF–Pakistan. Bayad is known to many from footage in the BBC’s Planet Earth and Natural World documentaries, and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom series on Animal Planet. Bayad’s movements were tracked for a total of 14 months, and yielded more data than has ever been gathered using conventional VHF radio collars. In particular, researchers found that she traveled a 1,563 km2 (603 sq mi) area, splitting her time between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Reader's Guide

Co-operation with communities in snow leopard range countries forms the basis of the trust's on-the-ground conservation work. When a region has been identified as a place of significant snow leopard habitat, the trust works with local residents to understand their needs and then jointly develop conservation programs. These conservation programs must meet four important goals: the protection of snow leopards and their habitat, involving local communities in this effort; an improved quality of life for the members of the community; the program developed must have a path to becoming self-sufficient so long term it is not dependent on donor dollars; the results of the program must be verifiable through monitoring programs. Snow Leopard Enterprises (SLE) is one of the trust’s major community programs. Over 300 families in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan participate by making handicraft products from the wool of their livestock to increase their income in return for helping protect the snow leopard in their region. The families have all agreed to stop hunting snow leopards and prey species while also helping with anti-poaching activities. At the end of each year, communities receive a bonus when no poaching has occurred. In 2011, the program won the BBC World Challenge, a global competition aimed at finding projects from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level.

Did You Know?

• The Snow Leopard Trust was founded in 1981 by Helen Elaine Freeman, who became fascinated with snow leopards while volunteering at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.
• A female snow leopard named Bayad was captured in Chitral Gol National Park in Pakistan on 17 November 2006 and fitted with a GPS satellite collar, the first-ever study of wild snow leopards using GPS radio technology.
• Bayad's movements were tracked for 14 months, revealing she traveled a 1,563 km² area, splitting her time between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• In 2011, the trust's Snow Leopard Enterprises program won the BBC World Challenge, a global competition for grassroots innovation.
• The trust's long-term research project in Mongolia's South Gobi Province, launched in 2008, has equipped 18 snow leopards with GPS tracking collars.