From July through the end of October, scientists will study the habitats of the Pallas’s cat in the Altai Republic, the Republic of Tuva, and the Zabaikalsky Krai, and will additionally conduct expanded field research in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Republic of Buryatia. This will make it possible to develop methods for assessing the environmental factors that contribute to the wellbeing of the Pallas’s cat. The project for the study and conservation of the Pallas’s cat is being carried out by: the Interregional Association "Irbis," the Mars company, and the A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS). The main partners are the "Ubsunur Hollow," "Daursky," and "Sayano-Shushensky" nature reserves, as well as the Tunkinsky and Sailyugemsky national parks. Volunteers of the "In the Footsteps of the Snow Leopard" movement will take part in the fieldwork.

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With the support of the Irbis Association and the Mars company, our colleagues — staff of the reserves, research institutes, and national parks — will study Pallas’s cat groupings within the boundaries of specially protected natural territories: they will investigate the nature of habitat occupancy, determine the population size of the species under different environmental conditions, and then extrapolate the data obtained to other territories, taking into account their varying degree of suitability for the Pallas’s cat’s habitation. The Pallas’s cat is a poorly studied feline species in Russia. The scientists' data will be an enormous help in developing measures for the effective protection of the Pallas’s cat

commented Darya Petrova, director of the Interregional Association "Irbis."

According to José A. Hernández-Blanco — the project’s coordinator and senior research fellow at IEE RAS — scientists today, using camera traps, have learned to distinguish individual big cats — the snow leopard, tiger, leopard — by the individual pattern of spots or stripes on their coat, which makes them easier to study; however, for monitoring Pallas’s cats, this method still remains a matter of debate.

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One of the objectives of our project is to use camera-trap data to test the applicability of the spatially explicit capture-recapture method (SECR) for determining the population size and density of Pallas’s cats. As a safeguard, we will also apply the Random Encounter Model (REM) — this method is labor-intensive but accurate, and does not require identifying individual animals. The method is based on a computer-vision model and will allow scientists to estimate the speed of movement of Pallas’s cats, their daily range, the frequency with which the animals are captured by camera traps, and to precisely calculate population density on trial plots — in the Sailyugemsky National Park, the Daursky Reserve in the Zabaikalsky Krai, and the Ubsunur Hollow Reserve in Tuva. In Russia, projects using this kind of technology can be counted on the fingers of one hand. For this, automatic cameras are placed not on animal trails or at points where animals are most likely to be encountered, but the territory is divided into 2 km² cells, and cameras are placed randomly within the boundaries of each such cell

added José A. Hernández-Blanco.

In the Sayano-Shushensky Reserve and the Tunkinsky National Park, scientists will use the occupancy assessment method. It will require fewer camera traps and will make it possible to cover a larger territory. This will help clarify which factors influence the presence of the Pallas’s cat in a given area — the state of the environment, the density of pikas (the Pallas’s cat’s main prey), and so on. The first expedition will start on July 5 in the Altai Republic and will last about a week. The participants will be staff of the Sailyugemsky National Park and volunteers of the "In the Footsteps of the Snow Leopard" movement.
Specialists will install automatic cameras at pre-determined plots where Pallas’s cats have previously been recorded, within the boundaries of the Sailyugemsky National Park and the vicinity of the Kosh-Agach district of the Altai Republic.

Additional information
The spatially explicit capture-recapture method (SECR) determines the probability of detecting an animal as individuals move away from the center of their home range. Thus, repeated camera-trap registrations of the same individuals in different locations across the study area make it possible to mathematically calculate the centers of their home ranges within the boundaries of a given territory, and, by recalculating the number of such centers per unit area, to obtain an accurate estimate of population density without distortion, as well as the degree of mobility of individuals — which is very important for understanding the state of the population. The Random Encounter Model (REM) likewise assesses animal population density based on camera-trap data. The method is popular for species that cannot be individually distinguished by appearance, and requires very strict adherence to rules for camera placement. Beforehand, the camera traps need to be calibrated — using computer vision to process the images in order to mathematically calculate the camera trap’s effective detection zone — the area within which the camera is guaranteed to capture a passing animal and which allows the precise calculation of its movement trajectory. This parameter depends on the lens’s field of view, the sensitivity of the motion sensor, and even the size of the animal itself. Scientists have many other methods at their disposal that make it possible to assess competition between species, their daily activity patterns, and other factors. A comprehensive study will help researchers more effectively study this elusive and rare feline species in order to develop approaches to protecting the Pallas’s cat.