: Meet The Two Ladakhis India Must Thank For Saving Our Beautiful Snow Leopards #IndiaNEWS #Ladakh Years from now, when the history of snow leopard conservation in Ladakh is written, two names will

Meet The Two Ladakhis India Must Thank For Saving Our Beautiful Snow Leopards #IndiaNEWS #Ladakh
Years from now, when the history of snow leopard conservation in Ladakh is written, two names will shine brighter than the rest—Rinchen Wangchuk, the late co-founder of Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust (SLC-IT) and Dr Tsewang Namgail (46), the current director of SLC-IT and, arguably, Ladakh’s most accomplished wildlife scientist.

Image above of Rinchen Wangchuk (Left) and Dr. Tsewang Namgail (Right)

It’s impossible to overstate their incredible contributions towards protecting the snow leopard, an apex predator that plays a critical role in maintaining Ladakh’s ecological integrity. From starting India’s first successful community-based snow leopard conservation effort through the promotion of homestays to educating Ladakh’s masses about this
elusive cat, they have rendered yeoman service to the cause.
Snow Leopard (Image courtesy of Jigmet Dadul, SLC-IT)
In the arms of Mother Nature
Rinchen Wangchuk, the son of Colonel Chewang Rinchen, a decorated Indian Army soldier honoured with two Maha Vir Chakras, grew up in the serene village of Sumur in Nubra.
“As a young boy, I grew up chasing Lynxes and going out with herders. I was always drawn to outdoor life and mountaineering. In high school, I started taking Western groups climbing some of the 6,000-metre peaks we have here. As a mountaineer, I got drawn more to the beautiful wonders of Ladakh’s rich biodiversity and tracking snow leopards and wolves. This led to me becoming a nature guide. I began leading some wildlife documentary film groups that came here to film snow leopards. From there, I got more involved with the scientific community,??? says Rinchen in this short documentary.
Meanwhile, Dr Tsewang Namgail grew up in the remote yet picturesque village of Skubuchan, which lies about 125 km from Leh. Until he was nine, he studied with fellow village children out in the open amidst nature without a classroom.
“That really exposed me to wildlife and my natural surroundings. On weekdays, I would go to school, while the weekends were spent herding sheep and goats on higher pastures. These experiences exposed me to wildlife, including the snow leopard. As a child herder, I had lost a few sheep and goats to snow leopards. Until I left my village, I never really experienced a formal upbringing, particularly when it came to education since our teachers wouldnt attend regularly,??? recalls Dr Namgail, speaking to The Better India.
Dr. Namgail setting up a camera trap.
Despite Rinchens quaint early upbringing in Sumur, his father’s vocation meant travelling to different parts of India and changing schools regularly. After completing his graduation from Delhi, he returned to Ladakh in the late 1990s to work with the International Snow Leopard Trust as a field associate, conducting various surveys.