Tien Shan: Settling in

Update from our snow leopard volunteer project to the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan

Here’s an update from half-way through group 3, mostly text with some generic pictures. This is because we have fancy GPSs that can send messages (but not pictures) via satellite from our remote, internet- and mobile-free base camp, which is a welcome distraction from distractions in itself….

Things are going well with a strong group 3. Our new location is delivering. We’ve had multiple ibex sightings and also what we think is evidence of snow leopard (tracks and scats). Tracks are notoriously unreliable with a high misidentification rate, so this is not strong evidence yet for our science nerd minds. Scat will be, once its DNA has been analysed. In itself scat has a 50% misidentification rate by sight, but once snow leopard DNA has been show to be present, then it’s a 100% proof. What the people in the lab look for – if you are interested – is intestinal cells on the surface of the scat that are deposited there as the scat moves through the cat’s gut. The scat itself is composed of what has been eaten.

We are pushing to get all camera traps out by the end of the expedition. This is hard work, but group 3 are up to the task.

We will also deliver a presentation about what the heck we are doing in their valley to our local herding neighbours. Hopefully this will be a great ice breaker and the start of a good working relationship.

More when we return to Bishkek on 19 August…

Update from our Kyrgyzstan expedition to the Tien Shan mountains, volunteering in snow leopard conservation.