KATHMANDU: For the first time, a census of snow leopards will be conducted in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Nepal’s only hunting reserve. Although snow leopards are found in the high Himalayan regions of the reserve where the legal hunting of blue sheep and Himalayan tahr takes place, they have never been formally counted. Reserve Ranger Sagar Subedi informed that preparations are underway to train enumerators for the census.

According to Subedi, the count will involve reserve staff, trained enumerators, and local residents. To facilitate the census, 56 cameras will be installed across hunting blocks in the high-altitude regions. “We are working to determine the status of snow leopards for the first time; approximately 10 enumerators will spend 45 days placing cameras, capturing direct photos and videos, and collecting leopard tracks and droppings to prepare a census report,” Subedi said. “The number of Snow Leopards will be identified based on camera-captured images and other field evidence. Next year, the blue sheep and Himalayan tahr here will be counted.”

The snow leopard habitat in this reserve ranges from 4,000 meters to over 7,000 meters. While the headquarters of the 1,325 square kilometer reserve is in Baglung, it extends into Myagdi and Rukum. The reserve is preparing to conduct the count in the Seng, Sundaha, Dogadi, Ghustung, Barse, and Phagune blocks.

According to Ranger Subedi, automated cameras will be placed on potential paths, rocks, thickets, and pass areas to capture photos, identifying individual leopards by matching the spots on their bodies. It was further stated that Snow Leopard droppings will be collected for laboratory testing, and the count will also utilize footprint and sign surveys. According to the 2022 census, 1,290 blue sheep and 744 Himalayan tahr were found in this reserve.