Cameras and Coexistence

While studies have historically focused on protected populations in Tajikistan's eastern Pamir Mountains, the status of snow leopards in the western Hissar Range remained largely unknown. This 200-kilometer range is almost entirely unprotected and exposed to high levels of human activity, including illegal hunting and intensive seasonal livestock grazing. Before this project, it was unconfirmed whether the Hissar Range functioned as a critical geographic link for snow leopard populations in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

I led a high-altitude expedition to establish the first western scientific baseline for snow leopard presence and genetic connectivity in this range. I utilized an integrated field design that combined 40 camera traps and non-invasive fecal DNA collection with 38 community surveys and 10 key informant interviews. This approach allowed me to map species distribution while simultaneously identifying the underlying socio-economic drivers of livestock depredation and human-carnivore conflict.

We documented a total of six individual snow leopards; three were identified via camera trap spot recognition and three additional individuals were identified through fecal DNA analysis. These results proved that the Hissar Range is a vital landscape connecting snow leopard habitat across Central Asia. Furthermore, our surveys revealed distinct spatial patterns of conflict: livestock damage by Himalayan brown bears was high in the southern range, whereas snow leopard attacks were concentrated in the north.

This work produced the first regional snow leopard presence data for the area, contributed to a co-authored publication (Cancallare et al.), and built local research capacity by training partners in non-invasive survey techniques such as camera trapping and scat collection.