Hike with Tashi Ghale to learn about cats of the mountains
In 2023 Jan/Feb, we will give our clients the opportunity to accompany Tashi Ghale, a field biologist with THIRD POLE CONSERVANCY (TPC), on a camera trap survey expedition aimed at calculating the population density of snow leopards in Nepal in the Manang Valley of Annapurna District.
Over the course of the journey, participants will visit up to six of Tashi’s camera trap sites to recover memory cards and subsequently download image and video data. Photos and video obtained from the camera traps enable TPC to estimate the number of snow leopards inhabiting specific mountain tracks, in addition to the felines’ travel routes and the movement of their prey. Scientists rely on the animals’ spot patterns to identify individual snow leopards when conducting such research. Tashi Ghale’s snow leopard camera trap research is recognized as being amongst the most prolific in its field today.
The expeditions from arrival in Kathmandu to final departure – will last ten days, five of which will be spent in the company of our field biologist. Our trekking itineraries will range in altitude from 3,500 to 4,500 meters. These unique journeys have been conceived with two objectives: to allow participants to witness, first-hand, compelling wildlife conservation field research against a spectacular Himalayan setting and to provide funding support for TPC’s ongoing mission to protect the future of the endangered snow leopards in Annapurna through scientific research and community outreach programs.