On March 25, the Interregional Association "Irbis" handed over a GAZ "Vepr" vehicle to the reserve "Ubsunurskaya Basin" (Tyva Republic). The all-terrain vehicle will be used in the hard-to-reach cluster areas "Mongun-Taiga", "Kara-Khol" and "Khan-Daer", which are characterized by particularly difficult conditions in terms of passability: mountainous terrain, steep turns and slopes, a large number of rocks, as well as deep snowdrifts in winter.

The snow leopard inhabits mountainous areas and hard-to-reach places where it hunts and gets its food. In addition, irbis have good camouflage and prefer to hunt at dusk. Nevertheless, thanks to camera traps it is often possible to find leopards and collect material for studying their way of life. However, such expeditions require transportation to cope with difficult road conditions.

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The appearance of the new GAZ Vepr vehicle will significantly increase the efficiency of our research work, raids and conservation activities. Due to its high cross-country ability, it can be used both in the summer season and in winter, when there is a lot of snowfall. In addition, the vehicle is designed for 5 people and is equipped with an autonomous heater, which will create more comfortable conditions for scientists even in difficult weather situations.

Balban-ool Diinmey Kaadir-oolovich Balban-ool, Director of the Reserve.

GAZ Vepr is an all—terrain vehicle with all-wheel drive, which will allow you to overcome difficult sections of roads. In addition, the all-terrain vehicle is equipped with a mechanical winch and an autonomous interior heater, and it also has a large ground clearance, which allows it to overcome both mountain rivers and rocky roads in summer and snow-covered areas in winter.

The car will be used already in the next snow leopard tracking expedition, scheduled for summer time. The number of snow leopards in Russia is estimated on average in the range of 70−90 individuals, some of which are located in the Republic of Tuva.

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The natural conditions of the mountainous area require a special approach to the choice of transport for research and protection of snow leopards. The large GAZ Vepr all-terrain vehicle is necessary to overcome difficult roads and obstacles encountered in expeditions. In addition, the car, having a high load capacity, will help to transport more equipment. Thus, the new Vepr GAS will greatly help the research work in the Ubsunurskaya Hollow Nature Reserve.

Denis Gulyaev, accounting coordinator and Deputy Director of Sailyugemsky National Park.