In many countries, including India, Mongolia, China, and Pakistan, snow leopard watching has become a popular direction in ecotourism. Inspired by these examples, the Snow Leopard Foundation in Kyrgyzstan, in 2023 with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), successfully implemented the project ‘Snow Leopard Tours – Key to Preserving Local Nature’.
As reported by the UN News Service, the project became the basis for the development of ethical tourism in the Sarychat-Eertash Nature Reserve. Within its framework, training sessions were conducted for rangers and residents of nearby communities, and necessary equipment was purchased: from tents and yurts to solar stations and pack bags. All this allowed organizing comfortable and environmentally safe conditions for observing wildlife.
Today, such tours take place from mid-autumn to the end of winter. Over two seasons after the project completion, about 10–12 groups (approximately 60–70 people) visited the reserve and adjacent border areas, including the Jangart and Ak-Shyyrak gorges.
“Unlike other excursions, in our snow leopard tours, we take into account the capacity of the reserve and local nature. The group size does not exceed six people, and we ensure that there are no multiple groups in the reserve at the same time,” notes the director of the Snow Leopard Foundation in Kyrgyzstan, Kubanychbek Jumabaev uulu.
Since 2025, each tourist contributes $100 to the local community’s nature conservation fund. These funds go to support rangers, infrastructure development, and stimulating nature protection.
Under conditions of sustainable tourism flow, the contribution can reach $7 thousand per year – and this is tangible assistance for remote regions of the country.
Revenues from each tour amount to $3-4 thousand, with services provided exclusively by local residents: rangers, guides, cooks, and guesthouse owners.
It is important to note: this is about careful and non-intrusive observation of wild animals in their natural habitat. In such excursions, tourists seek to capture rare shots of the snow leopard, as well as other predators – wolves, bears, Pallas’s cats, and large scavenger birds. Predators like wolves and foxes, previously considered ‘harmful’ in this area, have become valuable and attractive objects in the tours.
The excursions have allowed the reserve to improve infrastructure while raising the service level. Rangers and local guides have become more experienced, and as statistics show, the probability of seeing a snow leopard during a tour has reached 90 percent – a figure unique even by world standards.
