About 400 camera traps for snow leopards installed in Kyrgyzstan

About 400 camera traps for snow leopards installed in Kyrgyzstan. The director of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry of Kyrgyzstan Abdykalyk Rustamov told 24.kg news agency during the International Forum on the Conservation of the Snow Leopard and Its Ecosystems.

According to him, it is planned to purchase another 100 photo traps. «We put them wherever the trails of snow leopard are found,» he said.

As Abdykalyk Rustamov noted, ilbirs have already been found in the mountains of the Chui oblast, where they have not been the last 100 years.

«Now together with international organizations we work with jamaats in Kemin and Chon-Alai, that is, people themselves say that they will not hunt, and we buy uniforms, binoculars for them,» he said.

In addition, there are projects in Kyrgyzstan supporting local communities. «International organizations create jobs in the villages so people don’t hunt, but have a source of income,» Rustamov explained.

Bishkek hosts an international forum on the conservation of the snow leopard and its ecosystems, which is attended by delegates from 12 countries.