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This area was surveyed for snow leopard in the 1980s, at which point few snow leopard sign were apparent across the wider area. The exception was the area in the vicinity of the Mariang community, where the population of snow leopards was estimated to be between 50 and 75. In more than two decades since these initial surveys, social and economic situation within China has changed markedly and the status of snow leopards in this area has remained uncertain amidst this change. We therefore deem it essential, for the development of conservation for this region, that evidence be gathered urgently to determine if former hotspots are still potentially viable. Here we aim to follow up recent surveys carried out by WildCRU and BFU (Riordan, Shi et al. submitted) showing that snow leopards may still occur in Mariang and other communities in Taxkurgan after a period of 23 years, although their distributions may be seasonally skewed by human activity, principally grazing. |
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| The people in the region include what are referred to as Pamir Tajiks, but the term collectively refers to several East Iranian Pamiri ethnic groups, predominantly Sarikoli, Shugni and Wakhi speakers. With no written form of language, they also use Uyghur, Kyrgyz or Chinese depending on the inclination of their local school. Our projects is located in Taxkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, part of the Kashgar prefecture in west Xinjiang. |
The Region
The Pamir Mountains range across Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, forming a hub with the Karakorum and Kunlun Mountains connecting the remaining major mountain ranges of Central Asia. The connectivity of these mountain ranges is critical for the long term survival of snow leopards. In China, these mountains are found in the province of Xinjiang in the northwest of the country. The Taxkurgan Reserve was established in 1984 in west Xinjiang and lies along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. On the Pakistan border the reserve is positioned adjacent to the Karakorum National Park and there is a long term goal to promote transboundary conservation in this area for the benefit of endangered species such as snow leopard and Marco Polo sheep. The importance of this region is further highlighted by its position at the junction of two designated biodiversity hotspot areas: the Mountains of Central Asian and the Himalaya. In both hotspot areas the significance of these high mountain environments for biodiversity conservation and their fragility are common themes.
