Snow Leopard

Lore & Background

The trust was founded in 1981 by Helen Elaine Freeman. Working as a volunteer at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, Freeman became fascinated with the snow leopards there and learned about their endangered plight. She later joined the staff of the zoo and was motivated to set up the trust to protect the snow leopard in the wild, and its habitat. She also began the trust’s philosophy of helping the people sharing the snow leopard’s habitat improve their standard of living in exchange for protecting the animal.

The trust performs scientific research projects, manages community-level conservation programs, and fosters global collaboration amongst snow leopard experts and other snow leopard support groups. The organization raises money through donations, grants, fundraising events and sales of products on its website shop, and is supported by zoos and other conservation organizations. The Snow Leopard Trust is recognized as a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator, and is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, International Species Information System, and Co-Op America.

Currently, the Snow Leopard Trust focuses its efforts in five snow leopard range countries: China, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Kyrgyzstan. In these countries, the trust employs and trains staff to carry out research, education, and conservation. In the seven other countries within the snow leopard range, the trust supports and collaborates with researchers and conservation organizations.

Reader's Guide

Co-operation with communities in snow leopard range countries forms the basis of the trust's on-the-ground conservation work. When a region has been identified as a place of significant snow leopard habitat, the trust works with local residents to understand their needs and then jointly develop conservation programs. These conservation programs must meet four important goals: the protection of snow leopards and their habitat, involving local communities in this effort; an improved quality of life for the members of the community; the program developed must have a path to becoming self-sufficient so long term it is not dependent on donor dollars; the results of the program must be verifiable through monitoring programs.

Snow Leopard Enterprises (SLE) is one of the trust’s major community programs. Over 300 families in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan participate by making handicraft products from the wool of their livestock to increase their income in return for helping protect the snow leopard in their region. The families have all agreed to stop hunting snow leopards and prey species while also helping with anti-poaching activities. At the end of each year, communities receive a bonus when no poaching has occurred.

In 2011, the program won the BBC World Challenge, a global competition aimed at finding projects from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level.

Did You Know?

• A female snow leopard named Bayad was captured in Chitral Gol National Park in Pakistan on 17 November 2006 and fitted with a GPS satellite collar, the first-ever study of wild snow leopards using GPS radio technology.
• Bayad's movements were tracked for 14 months, revealing she traveled a 1,563 km² area, splitting her time between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• The trust's long-term research project in Mongolia's South Gobi Province, launched in 2008, has equipped 18 snow leopards with GPS tracking collars.