In the vast wilderness of Central Asia, where frozen tundra and rugged mountains abound and roads and modern amenities do not exist, Garmin technology is helping to ensure that an important native species survives--the snow leopard. Wildlife research biologist Tom McCarthy and his team of scientists have been busy using the Garmin GPS 100 to conduct snow leopard research in Mongolia. His story is a fascinating one that Garmin is proud to be a part of.

Snow leopards are widely, but sparsely, distributed throughout the mountains of Central Asia. These big cats are well-suited to their rocky environment because of their thick coats, camaflage fur, and large, hair-cushioned paws. An adult snow leopard can weigh between 60-120 pounds and measure 39-51 inches in length, including a 31-39 inch tail which it uses for balance. Although these impressive creatures were once numerous, it is now estimated that there are only 2,000 living in this region.

The overall destruction of the snow leopards' habitat, as well as illegal hunting and trapping, have eliminated this animal from many areas of its former range. In addition, as humans and their domestic livestock move higher up the mountain slopes, plants become overgrazed. This means less food for the snow leopards' traditional prey and, in turn, less prey for the leopards themselves. Snow leopards are classified as an endangered species and are legally protected throughout most of their range, and commercial trade in snow leopard skins is banned. However, enforcing laws in the snow leopards' mountainous habitat is difficult. Not only do they live in politically sensitive border areas, but the rough terrain is not conducive to effective monitoring.

Snow leopards have a territorial range of approximately 600 miles, which makes tracking and compiling data a real challenge. Precise information on snow leopards' present status, range, and abundance is not known, and knowledge regarding their social behavior is incomplete. But now, Garmin GPS is giving an advantage to scientists who are working to save the snow leopard. For several years, McCarthy and his team have been using a GPS 100 donated by Garmin to methodically track snow leopards, survey their territories, and evaluate areas to establish additional reserves. The GPS 100 has helped the group calculate exact locations in order to compile information on snow leopards' movement and interaction with their surroundings.

In October of 1993, the team radio-collared its first snow leopard, a young female, and tracked her for a month. Garmin GPS enabled McCarthy's team to compile crucial data about this particular animal.

"We had very accurate fixes for each of her daily movements thanks to the GPS," McCarthy said. "These proved invaluable as we define her home range.

"We spent much of late summer and fall (1994) in the Gobi Desert and Altai Mountains surveying snow leopard habitat," McCarthy added. "The GPS unit Garmin provided has been very important to the project. It was used extensively in mapping habitat and identifying our new study area1s location by lat/lon."

In late summer, McCarthy and his team relied on the GPS 100 to find their way around some very remote areas of a mountain reserve in western Mongolia. This led to the capture of a magnificent male snow leopard.

"We call him 'Sinkhor,' which is Mongolian for 'blue,' the color of his radio," McCarthy said. "He brings to three the number of snow leopards that are wearing our radio collars and slowly revealing their secrets to us."

In addition, the GPS 100 proved invaluable in locating the correct maps for several study areas the group visited while planning for upcoming long-term work in the western part of the country.

"Without lat/lon readings, there wouldn't have been a way to obtain the maps we needed after brief ground visits," said McCarthy. "There are no roads, landmarks, or named features that would have allowed us to explain to officials in the capitol where we were and what maps we needed."

This all proved very interesting in dealing with a government that wasn't familiar with GPS technology and that liked to keep its geographical information confidential.

"[Government officials] still don't quite understand how I can walk into a cartographic institute in the capitol and ask for maps by such detailed reference points," McCarthy said, "Especially when most maps are still state secrets!"

McCarthy feels that the use of Garmin GPS technology is what has made the difference in the fight to preserve a niche for the snow leopard in its native environment.

"The GPS was an indispensable tool in poorly mapped regions," explained McCarthy. "Not only was the unit very dependable, but it gave me readings under terrain conditions I thought were not conducive to GPS use--namely deep, narrow valleys, and gorges."

McCarthy and the others also used their unit for about three months in temperatures as cold as 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Most work was done on battery saver mode, and I ran it on a single charge to obtain about 100 quick fixes," McCarthy explained. "I did take the last few readings I needed off of our 12V jeep battery."

McCarthy has a favorite wwwtion of how GPS takes navigation, even in the remotest areas, to another level.

"When crossing a good size stretch of steppe in search of a mountain range we wanted to survey, we met a nomadic herder who gave us directions," McCarthy said. "He said, Just keep going that way until you come to the dead camel and then turn sort of north.' We never saw the camel, and I have never been more thankful for having my Garmin along.

"That was not an isolated event," McCarthy added. "It's day-to-day living and travel that makes the Garmin GPS 100 so valuable to our work."

As the top predator of the fragile mountain ecosystem of Central Asia, the snow leopard is intrinsically important to and a key indicator of--the health of this area. McCarthy and his team are now preparing to return to Mongolia in mid-summer for a three-year study. As a part of this work, he plans to provide Mongolian scientists access to several technologies currently unheard of there.

"We hope to combine GPS and GIS to initiate computer databases in several locations where environmental concerns are greatest," McCarthy said. "The Great Gobi Park is such a place that will receive early treatment."

For more information, please contact:

International Snow Leopard Trust:

4649 Sunnyside Ave. N.
Suite #325
Seattle, WA, 98103
206-632-2421
www.snowleopard.org

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