Sometimes I am amazed by the variety of animal species that inhabit Xinjiang. This week I learned that more snow leopards call China home than any other country in the world, with the majority of those split between Tibet and Xinjiang. Heck, we even have a nature reserve for them here in Xinjiang, the Taxkurgan Nature Reserve.
I also know from watching BBC's Planet Earth series that snow leopards have been very difficult to capture on film, especially their hunting habits and techniques. With this in mind my attention has been caught by a new blog up entitled "Xinjiang Snow Leopards" written by Dr. Philip Riordan, a senior postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. Right now he is in the process of packing his bags and sending his photo gear ahead of him to Kashgar for this project that aims to monitor, provide population estimates, and identify hotspots for the snow leopard here in Xinjiang.I'm looking forward to keeping up with his updates while he's here this month and think you might enjoy it too. You might also want to check out the New Dominion's review of this most intriguing Xinjiang news. Good luck!
Sources:
The New Dominion: Xinjiang Snow Leopard Project
Wikipedia: Snow Leopard
2 Comments:
I enjoyed this post and thought you might like to know about the Snow Leopard Trust. China is home to the largest snow leopard population in the world, and Xinjiang is a very important region for them. Right now, our work in Xinjiang is limited to research and surveys. We do hope to expand that, but we are moving cautiously. There is a great need for on-the-ground conservation, but it will require the buy-in and cooperation of local people and the government. I thought you might like to learn more at our website or our blog.
Hi Josh
I'm glad you're keeping an eye on the Xinjiang snow leopard research project and helping to spread the word about it on your interesting blog. Now that the team have established the presence of snow leopards it will be vital to work with the local communities to help them help the snow leopard survive.
If you are interested in reading about other snow leopard conservation programs in other Asian regions and breeding programs in zoos, please have a look at my blog - www.snowleopardblog.com
Best regards.
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