These tourist programs bring additional revenue into the remote region and demonstrate a tangible economic benefit to healthy and visible snow leopard populations. Over a relatively short period, the homestay initiatives have successfully altered local attitudes towards snow leopards. Not only are efforts being made to dramatically reduce snow leopard predation on livestock by using mesh-covered corrals, but there is also subsequent development of homestay initiatives. He outlined the work being undertaken by the SLC-IT and Panthera with local villages and communities. Before heading into the field, my first port of call is in Leh, the region’s capital, at the Snow Leopard Conservancy-India Trust office to meet up with their director, Dr Tsewang Namgail. The situation in Ladakh represents a familiar conundrum - how to manage conflict between large predators and rural communities. This time, I was hoping for better luck catching the “mountain ghost” up close. The closest encounter was over 200m away and even with a 600mm lens, the subject remained rather small in the frame. In 2017, I had managed to take photographs from three meaningful snow leopard sightings in nine days the final one yielding the best photos. Known for their elusive nature, snow leopards are referred to by locals as “mountain ghosts.” Photo by Nick Garbutt.Īfter a reasonably successful first venture to Ladakh, India in 2017 to look for snow leopards, I returned in March 2018 to spend a month in the mountains hoping to expand up on my modest portfolio of images.
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