MUSTANG: A survey has been simultaneously launched in Mustang and Manang to find out the number of snow leopards in the two districts.

The survey has been started ACAP Lomanthang and ACAP Jomsom in Mustang and the ACAP Manang in Manang under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP).

Previously, agencies studying and researching snow leopards conducted surveys by setting up a limited number of camera traps in areas believed to be snow leopard habitats. Therefore, the exact number of snow leopards in Mustang and Manang could not be determined.

This year, under the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, Mustang and Manang are carrying out activities such as installing camera trapping for the survey of snow leopards.

Umesh Poudel, the head of the ACAP Lomanthang office, stated that winter is the appropriate time for conducting the survey. During winter, snowfall occurs at an altitude of about four thousand metres above sea level, resulting in a shortage of grass, so the prey species of snow leopards descend to lower areas.

Poudel said that more than 130 camera trap surveys will be conducted in four municipalities out of 161 grids in Mustang.

He stated that technicians from ACAP and local residents were deployed to the high altitude areas of the snow leopard’s habitat and movement routes for the survey.

ACAP Lomanthang has stated that they plan to install more than 99 cameras in various places believed to be the snow leopard habitat in Lomanthang of Upper Mustang and Loghekar Damodarkunda rural municipalities.

Similarly, ACAP Jomsom has installed seven cameras for trapping in the areas around Sangta, the bordering village of Mustang and Dolpa.

Earlier, BIOCOS Nepal and ACAP had already installed 16 cameras in areas such as Marpha, Chimang, Thini, Jhong and Cheungur here, according to Rajesh Gupta, head of the ACAP Jomsom office.

The head of ACAP Manang office, Dhak Bahadur Bhujel, said that the snow leopard survey has already started in Manang from the second week of August.

According to him, 129 camera trap sites have been set up for the survey in Manang and the monitoring and supervision of the cameras that have been installed is ongoing.