Quest for the Snow Leopard

by Darla Hillard and Rodney Jackson

It has been thirty years since we came face-to-face with our first wild snow leopard. We didn’t follow the rules; we weren’t careful what we wished for. We dreamed big, we got lucky, and we fell in love—not just with each other, but also with a beautiful, secretive big cat that shares her realm with the beautiful, indigenous people of high-mountain Central Asia.

This story is not about the times we have thought about giving up—when we felt so outnumbered by the poachers, the traders in pelts and bones, and even the herders whose sheep or goats were killed by a snow leopard and sought revenge. It’s not about the times we wished we studied an animal we could actually see; to be working, say, with elephants, where we could drive right up to the herd, recognize them all by name, and watch them for hours at a time. It’s not about having to walk for days into the high mountains, and then climb like an ibex to even see the track of a snow leopard, or to camp in an unheated tent in the winter and bathe in a bucket when it’s minus 20 degrees outside.

No. This story is about the compelling science of unravelling a snow leopard’s life; it’s about the tactile marvel of sinking our fingers deep into the fur of a wild snow leopard; and it’s about the supernatural mystery of Snow Leopard.

Rodney Jackson was the first scientist to capture and radio-collar snow leopards.

The Snow Leopard Conservancy has community-based conservation and education programs in half the snow leopard’s range countries.

Visit: SnowLeopardConservancy.org to find out how you can help, or to order a copy of Vanishing Tracks, available as conventional or e-book.

Dr. Rodney Jackson has twice been honored for his life’s work and conservation leadership by being shortlisted — in 2008 and 2010 —as one of six nominees for the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s leading award for animal conservation. Now for the third time, he has been named as one of 29 finalists picked from across the globe for the 2012 prize.

Jackson is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on snow leopards

Read all about this fascinating feature in the latest issue out now!

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