Snow Leopards

Author Biography

Dr. Tom McCarthy, Panthera’s Director of Snow Leopard Programs, began his conservation career studying brown bears, black bears, mountain goats and caribou in Alaska in the early 1980s. A strong interest in international conservation led him to Mongolia in 1992, where, under the guidance of Dr. George Schaller (known as “one of the founding fathers of wildlife conservation”), he took over the management of a long-term snow leopard research project. He was the first biologist to use satellite radio-collars on snow leopards. McCarthy became the Science and Conservation Director of the Snow Leopard Trust in 2000 and has since led their extensive science and community-based conservation programs across much of snow leopard range in Asia. From 2002-2009, Dr. McCarthy served as Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Network, a global consortium of more than 200 professionals involved in snow leopard research and conservation. Among other research initiatives, Dr. McCarthy is leading both a range-wide assessment of snow leopard genetics that seeks to identify movement corridors which are critical to maintaining the health and genetic diversity of the species, and a revision of methods by which snow leopard populations can be monitored over time, including such novel non-invasive approaches as fecal genetics, camera trapping and statistical modeling based on sign surveys. Dr. David Mallon is not only a recognized expert on snow leopards, he is extremely knowledgeable on the conservation status of Central Asia as a whole. He conducted some of the early assessments of the status of snow leopards in Mongolia and has done surveys in many of the Himalayan range states. He has more than 25 years of field work experience in the Himalaya, Tibetan Plateau, Mongolia, Central Asia and Arabia, mainly focused on large mammals, and involving species surveys, biodiversity assessment, habitat assessment, camera trapping, training, capacity building, and training local partners in census and monitoring techniques. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Zoological Society of London, as well as a member of the International Editorial Board for Oryx, the International Journal of Conservation. He has been a Steering Committee member of the Snow Leopard Network since its inception in 2003 and is currently the elected Chairman of that 400 member organization, which represents nearly every biologist and conservationist now active in the snow leopard world. He is highly respected among his peers as an expert on this cat. Dr. Karin R. Schwartz is a long-standing conservation professional with extensive experience in data management as applied to conservation programs within zoological institutions as well as for regional cooperative animal management programs and in situ conservation efforts. Her dissertation research focused on linking in situ and ex situ data management processes for endangered species recovery programs through the Species360 Zoological Information Management System. She initiated and led the development of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) records-training programs for use of Species360 software and was Co-Administrator of the Institutional Records-Keeping Course for 19 years. She has international training experience through the presentation of records training sessions for the regional zoo associations in Argentina, India, and South Korea, and for individual zoos in Ecuador, Hawaii, New York, and South Korea. Dr. Schwartz has extensive experience in international conservation efforts through involvement in IUCN/Species Survival Commission’s Conservation Planning, Conservation Translocation, Tapir, Otter, and Wildlife Health Specialist Groups. She serves as the Ex Situ/In Situ Liaison on the Management Committee of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group. She was a chapter author and editor for two books in the Biodiversity of the World series: Cheetahs: Biology and Conservation and Tree Kangaroos: Science and Conservation. These experiences led to the role of Series Editor for the Biodiversity of the World book series to oversee the development of new books on relevant endangered species.