Conservation
Altai Pipeline: One step forward for Ukok, one step back for sacred sites [2013 & 2022]
Despite eliminating the Altai route in 2013, threats to Ukok Plateau remain. Gazprom continues to negotiate and plan an eastern pipeline route.
Read MoreSnow leopard surprise in eastern Mongolia [2023]
The recent discovery of a snow leopard in Mongolia’s Ikh Nart Nature Reserve—more than 250 km (155 miles) from the nearest known population—is one of the easternmost observations of the species and has big implications for understanding the species and improving conservation planning. Although Ikh Nart is in a region assessed to be a low-quality…
Read MoreSaiga antelope
Saiga antelopes, a small species of antelope about the size of goat, were once as prolific in the Central Asian steppes as bison were on the plains of North America. Illegal hunting, human disruptions to their habitat, and a 2015 bacterial plague, combined with other threats to their survival, has led to a precipitous population…
Read MoreFirst photograph of a rare snow leopard in Altai Republic, Russia [2013]
Learn about a live snow leopard sighting during the 2013 Wild Altai Expedition.
Read MoreCamera-trapping along the Argut River – 2010
In 2010, a local team returned from an expedition along the lower and middle Argut River. With the participation of residents from the nearby village of Inegen, they set camera traps in likely locations to learn more about what animals still inhabit the area. The camera traps are part of a larger project funded by…
Read MoreBiologists from the US and Spain Count Sheep in Altai [2011]
In August 2011, The Altai Project sent a team of two wildlife ecologists and three graduate students from the US to Altai to join an international survey of argali mountain sheep.
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