“We were really excited to get photographs of the snow leopards from here,” Tenzin said. We were also able to show evidence to the communities in these areas, and they were happy because it validated their conservation work.”
During the three years of the survey, conservationists were treated to many visual delights from their automatic cameras.
“We recorded the first ever images of the Tibetan wolf here. We also got our very first images of the Pallas’s cat. We discovered a whole new world of animals that are living in our park,” Tenzin said.
More importantly, the survey work equipped Tenzin and his team with the knowledge and experience to systematically conduct such research in the future. They received training on how to set up camera traps, collect data, and perform final identification of snow leopard individuals. While the fieldwork was grueling, for Tenzin, the most difficult part of the survey came after returning from the field.
“The individual identification and data analysis was the most difficult part for me,” Tenzin said. “I am a ranger, so I am not used to the analytical part.”
He remembers the heated discussions during the identification phase.
“We collected all snow leopard images, and sorted similar angles together: left flank, right flank, all front limbs, all tails, and then we went one by one, to identify whether two images were the same snow leopard or different individuals. For example, I’d say they were different individuals, another friend would object and weigh in why he thought they were similar.”
After a week of debate, the team made a final decision.
The survey counted a total of 14 snow leopards in the area, and provided the WCNP team with confidence that they could independently do the work for Bhutan’s subsequent national snow leopard survey.
The results of the national survey are now complete and Tenzin could not be more proud.
“It has definitely been the most challenging work I have done, but also the most satisfying,” he said.
