Tien Shan: Archaly

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

Hello from base camp. The sun is shining, nights are cool with morning frost that is quick to thaw with sunrise.

All is well here, we are surveying many 2×2 km cells in and around the valley, even a requests from our citizen scientists to revisit and resurvey areas they reckon hold promise! We had some interesting local interviews today with the usual hospitality and offers of local food and drink and talk of close encounters with Tien Shan bear, wolf and snow leopard.

Today is our rest day. Monday we head to beautiful and remote Archaly valley (see pictures) to set up camp for surveys there and an extended reconnaissance for 2026. We look forward to bringing you more details at the end of the expedition, after we get back to Bishkek at the end of next week.

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