RESEARCH in KYRGYZSTAN
The world's first capture of
Footage of a wild snow leopard drinking water.
As a result,
Snow leopards are prey animals
This suggests that different strategies for fluid intake may be required.
Published in an international paper,
We will introduce the research results.
研究概要
Snow leopards live in high mountains. It was thought that they hydrate by eating snow in winter. However, eating snow requires energy to melt the ice in the body. Therefore, in high mountains in winter, the strategy of hydration may differ for each animal species.
This is the first time in the world that a video of a wild snow leopard drinking water has been captured, and it suggests that snow leopards have a different water intake strategy than their prey. It is expected that the results of this research will provide important insights into the ecology of snow leopards and the planning of conservation measures.
For details of the paper (Kikuchi et al., 2020) , click here
Snow leopard drinking water
Immediately after drinking the water, another camera recorded the mother and baby playing together. They had visited the river together. From the patterns on their bodies, it became clear that they were a mother and baby that had frequently appeared in the nature reserve we were investigating.
The significance of its existence as a protected area
In fact, after the mother and calf were spotted in January 2018, no one had been seen except for the mother. It was thought that it might have been difficult for them to survive the harsh alpine environment and winter when food is scarce. However, after continuing our investigation, we found that the mother and calf had safely survived the winter here in March 2019. They were probably about one and a half years old at this time.
This footage of mother and baby is not just a rare sight; it signifies that the nature reserve has the environment necessary for snow leopards to breed, demonstrating the success of conservation efforts and the significance of its existence as a reserve.
from now on
Hunting was legal in the nature reserve where we conduct our research until 2015. Thanks to the efforts of local NGOs, the area has become a nature reserve and snow leopards have been recorded. However, poachers are still being arrested and the situation remains unpredictable. Persevering in our research will help conserve the precious nature of this area, including the snow leopards.
