Seconded By: Bengin Ahmad,
The Winter of the Snow Leopards
Last winter I traveled alone to the most remote villages of my homeland Dolpo, a roadless region in the high Himalaya range, in order to photograph the lives of the local herders who stay in the mountains during this harsh season. I was especially interested in trying to understand how they live with snow leopards, the beautiful wild cat that can inflict a lot of damage on the precious animals of the villagers.
Dolpo is located in northwestern Nepal and is bordered by Tibet to the north. It is one of the country’s largest districts, but with the least number of people, and is also the last region in Nepal not linked by road to the rest of the country. Dolpo also encompasses Nepal’s largest national park, Shey-Phoksundo National Park, with several high villages and herding areas located inside the park.
I first trekked to my home village of Ringmo, then continued to the villages of Dho, Shemin, Tinje, Polde, Komang, Tsa, and Rakyul, spending an entire four months with the herders. The photos in this essay are from two of these villages.
Rakyo; The Isolated village of the Snow Leopard
Rakyul is a small village with only three households in the remote highland of the Upper Dolpo Himalayas, located at an altitude above 4000m. It is also called “the isolated village,” or sometimes “the village of snow leopards,’ by the neighboring village as the terrain there is mostly rocky.
In winter, only Dolma Tshiring, 60, stays in the village, while her neighbors migrate to lower elevations to escape the isolation, the harsh winter, and the snow leopard.
This last winter year, Dolma’s eight-year-old granddaughter, Kunsang, stayed with her to help herd the sheep and goats and look out for snow leopards.
Komang
Komang is another remote high village, at an altitude above 4000m with more than 50 households. Here every household rears sheep and goats as their major source of income; these animals have become especially valuable since the border between Tibet and Dolpo was closed during Covid and remains closed. So losing just one animal to the snow leopard means a huge loss to a family here and they are working to find new ways to protect their flocks.
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
A winter herding site of Komang village an altitude above 4000m
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
Kunsang Gurung 50 who owns more than 20 sheep and goats lost one of her goats to a snow leopard attack while herding Livestock rearing is one of the only livelihood income for her and her family
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
More than a hundred Sheep and goats are kept inside a cave in the winter herding site of Komang village as a corral
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
An adult snow leopard shy and elusive walking around the rocky ridges of Rakyo village
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
Herders in Komang use a fox light in their corral to scare snow leopards at night and to protect their livestock
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
A footmark of a snow leopard that killed Kunsang and her grandmother s goat one evening after a heavy snow fall br
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
Kunsang Lhamo Gurung 8 came to stay this winter with her 60 year old grandmother Dolma Tshering to help her with herding the sheep and goat and to guard from snow leopards
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
A heavy stormy snow sweeps the three households village Rakyo Also connoted as The snow leopard village by the neighboring villages br
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
Dolma Tshering 60 lives in this isolated village alone in winter but with a snow leopard and this year joined by her grandchild
The Winter Of The Snow Leopards
Kunsang Gurung 8 and her small cousin Bhuti Gurung 6 and her small sister Chemi Gurung 5 looking for any snow leopard presence nearby around the village
