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Our News
OF YAKS AND SNOW LEOPARDS
One midnight in the high mountain of Nubri in Tsento, Paro, Tobgay was startled awake by the frantic snorting of his yaks. Paralyzed by fear, his friend hesitated to go outside.
Instinctively, Tobgay reached for his dagger and then, on second thought, left it. He gathered his guts, grabbed a torch, and moved carefully towards the enclosure where his yaks were kept.
In the flickering torchlight, as anticipated, he saw the sagay – its gleaming eyes fixed on him. Within the tight grip of its jaws was a two-year-old yak calf.
The snow leopard’s hackles were raised. Its long, bushy tail twitched, and a low growl rumbled from its throat.
Knowing he had to act fast, Tobgay shouted to scare it away, but the cat only crouched lower in a defensive stance. Desperate, he picked up a rock and struck the animal. With a deep growl the sagay released the calf and leapt away, disappearing into the night. In the distance, its glowing eyes lingered for a moment before merging with the darkness.
Tobgay, 76, has served as the village tshogpa (elected village coordinator) for over three decades. He owns several yaks and has spent his entire life navigating the high alpine landscapes where tradition and nature are deeply connected. “The creature’s fur blends seamlessly with the earth’s hues, and changes with the seasons,” he said. “This camouflage makes the cat almost invisible against the alpine meadows and rocky outcrops.”
While snow leopards are known as gangzig in Dzongkha, in Nubri it is called sagay. It is an elusive cat often referred to as the ghost of the mountain. However, in recent years, sightings of sagay have increased in Nubri. It is mostly the cubs that are spotted. The adults, when spotted, are often sleeping in the rocky outcrops. Snow leopards are increasingly raiding livestock enclosures and preying on yak calves.
Last year, one of Tobgay’s neighbor and friend lost several yaks to a disease. A carcass was buried near a stream but time and again, he found it disturbed. Curious, his friend visited the burial site and witnessed a sagay feeding on the remains. When he attempted to chase it away, the creature leapt forward, momentarily gripping his lagey
(undershirt) before retreating into the wilderness. Despite living in proximity to human settlements, sagay is generally not known to be aggressive towards people.
Under which Nubri chiwog (cluster of villages) falls, has high snow leopard concentration. During the 2022-2023 national survey, eleven adults and two cubs were counted in the region. This makes the area an important landscape or snow leopard conservation outside of the protected areas network.
Listed as vulnerable in IUCN’s Red List, experts estimate that there are only about 4,000-6,000 snow leopards in the world. Snow leopard inhabits high alpine rock mountains terrains found only in 12 countries of central Asia.
To understand the extent of livestock loss to snow leopard and foster coexistence with herders, the Department of Forests and Park Services is implementing the Edge Species Protection Project in Nubri with support from WWF-Bhutan. Rangers are working with the 17 herders of Nubri to improve livestock protection practices through provision of solar electric fence, advocacy, and carrying out consultations to understand the challenges of the community.
Recently, a consultation meeting with herders was held at Lyena village in Nubri, led by Paro Divisional Forest Office and Nature Conservation Division to map natural assets such as water bodies, mineral lick sites, mountains, passes, and rocky outcrops frequented by people and wildlife. The mapping was based on traditional ecological knowledge retained by the herders. This exercise was also to plan the use of corral fencing (mobile solar electric fencing) to protect yak calfs from snow leopard depredation.
Herder’s ranked loss of yaks to disease after snow leopard attacks and extreme weather conditions. The high incidents of snow leopard depredation of livestock are wearing the community’s patience thin. Globally, it is estimated that around 250 to 450 snow leopards are killed annually, of which about 50 percent are related to human-wildlife conflict incidents.
In Nubri, often retaliatory killing is on the minds
of people. However, besides the awareness that the snow leopard’s death has on the ecosystem, the herders are deeply spiritual. The sagay is a revered wildlife. In Buddhism, the snow leopard is seen as a manifestation of Jetsun Milarepa, a yogi master.
“That is why I left my dagger the night the sagay attacked my yaks,” Tobgay said. “Even harming it is a sin. In our village it is believed that if a sagay is harmed it does not die from the wound that is inflicted but from sorrow - a deep, emotional suffering from the harm inflicted.”
Written by Chimi Wangchuk, WWF-Bhutan
© DoFPS
Snow leopards