(PICA Small Grant Programme)
Leader(s):
Shirin Karryeva, Aknabat Potaeva, Hojamurad Hojamuradov, Tatjana Rosen
Organisation(s):
Team Bars Turkmenistan
Period:
November 2021 – October 2022
GOAL
To understand the distribution of the manul and threats to it in Turkmenistan.
Summary
Pallas’s cats have been recorded on camera trap in Turkmenistan on three occasions since November 2019. The first and third time in the Central Kopet Dag, near the border with Iran, and the second time in the Big Balkan range, in northwest Turkmenistan. Pallas’s cat was anecdotally reported on several occasions in the Central Kopet Dag, but never in the Big Balkan range, at least in recent times. According to some very old literature (Shukurov 1962), Pallas’s cat was reportedly seen in the Big Balkan range in 1940.
Other than these scarce observations, very little is known of the status and threats facing Pallas’s cat in Turkmenistan.
We hope, thanks to PICA support, to gain a deeper understanding of the threats facing Pallas’s cats in Turkmenistan; as well as develop recommendations on what mitigation measures can be implemented. Through intensive camera trap study we strive to increase our knowledge of Pallas’s cat distribution, as well as to build the scientific capacity to support further conservation efforts in the future.
TEAM
Shirin Karryeva, Aknabat Potaeva, Hojamurad Hojamuradov, Tatjana Rosen
PARTNERS
MWG
SUPPORTED BY
PICA Small Grant Programme, The Center for Large Landscape Conservation