KATHMANDU: Mustang and Manang districts have begun a simultaneous survey to determine the population of the rare snow leopard. The effort is being conducted under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), with ACAP Lomanthang and ACAP Jomsom leading the survey in Mustang, and ACAP Manang coordinating in Manang.
Previously, ACAP and other research bodies studying snow leopards conducted limited surveys using camera traps in areas identified as potential habitats. However, the exact number of snow leopards in Mustang and Manang remained uncertain.
This year, ACAP offices in both districts are implementing extensive camera trapping and other fieldwork to improve the accuracy of population estimates.
“The winter season is ideal for snow leopard surveys,” said Umesh Paudel, head of ACAP Lomanthang. “At around 4,000 meters above sea level, where snow accumulates, grass becomes scarce, forcing snow leopards to descend to feed.” He added that more than 130 camera traps will be installed across four municipalities out of 161 grids in Mustang.
The survey team includes ACAP technical staff and local residents, deployed to areas identified as snow leopard habitats and movement corridors. ACAP Lomanthang plans to place over 99 cameras in Upper Mustang’s Lomanthang and Loghekar Damodarkunda rural municipalities.
Similarly, ACAP Jomsom has installed seven cameras in the border villages near Mustang and Dolpa for trapping purposes. “Previously, 16 cameras were set up in areas like Marpha, Chimang, Thini, Zhong, and Chengur by Biocos Nepal and ACAP,” said Rajesh Gupta, head of ACAP Jomsom. He added that camera trapping aims to estimate the snow leopard population and study the status of their prey species.
In Manang, ACAP began the survey in the second week of August, according to Dhak Bahadur Bhujel, head of ACAP Manang. “We have installed 129 cameras across the four municipalities in snow leopard habitats, and are currently monitoring them,” he said. “Of these, 22 cameras are dedicated to studying Himalayan tahr, while the remaining 107 focus on snow leopards and other wild cats.”
The cameras installed in Mustang and Manang will remain in the field for six months. Afterward, the cameras will be collected to begin the data analysis phase of the snow leopard survey.
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