Guardian dogs conserve ecology of Mongolian steppes

January 22, 2017 7:00 am JST
Guardian dogs conserve ecology of Mongolian steppes
Livestock protection eases human pressure on predators and reduces overgrazing

TIM FERRY, Contributing writer




A Bankhar dog with a Mongolian nomad family. (Courtesy of Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project)


ULAANBAATAR -- Bruce Elfstrom got a first-hand look at the fragility of Mongolian nomads' existence while producing a documentary in 2004.

Elfstrom, a biologist and outdoor adventurer, was camping with a film crew and some nomadic herder families on the vast steppes of rural Mongolia. He was awakened one freezing, star-filled night by the sound of slaughter. A wolf pack had attacked the grounds, killing 17 horses and 30 other animals.

Such losses are devastating but common for Mongolian nomads, who maintain a millennia-old lifestyle of small family units residing in mobile yurts, and are dependent for subsistence on livestock -- traditionally horses, camels, yaks, sheep and goats.

Livestock predation can ruin nomadic families, which often retaliate by hunting the culprits -- primarily gray wolves, lynx and snow leopards. High-powered rifles and off-road vehicles have greatly increased the capabilities of nomad hunters in recent years, leaving predator populations under threat. Conservationists estimate, for instance, that only 500 to 1,000 snow leopards survive in Mongolia, putting them on the endangered species list.

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