Last post (at least for a while)

Four years and four months ago I arrived in Ulaanbaatar for the first time, I came here thinking that I would join an international team of scientists but on the way from the airport to my hotel I was told that it was actually just me who would live in camp. I knew almost nothing about Mongolia, snow leopards, how things worked here or even what a ger looked like. I had heard about scientists who had worked with snow leopards for 20 years without even seeing one, and I was here to capture these cats.

Today I am back in Ulaanbaatar, I have just finished my last field session. It has been an incredible four years with more stories than I can ever tell. We’ve collared 19 different snow leopards, many of them have been captured again and had their collars changed. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have seen snow leopards by now but I will always remember the number of dens that we have found. It is two, both found on the same day.

I think that I have spent about two full years in camp, during this time I have trapped for a little more than 450 nights. I’ve broken an arm, exhausted a knee and bent my nose. The longest period alone was 45 consecutive days, the longest period without a shower was 207 consecutive days. In total I have driven a little more than 16 000 km on a dirt bike. It feels a bit as if I am a new person after all experiences, cultural differences and adventures out here. In a way it is true – my combined weight loss for all trips is almost equal to my total bodyweigh so I guess you could say that at least this is a new body. It sure looks older and more scared.

We have collected more data than any other snow leopard study, now it is time to start analysing it. I hope that our efforts will increase the chances for the snow leopard and their ecosystems to sustain.

I will likely not write on this blog again, at least not for a while.

Thanks for reading my texts and for all the comments, thanks also to all the people who has assisted me out in camp and to the organizations that has supported me with equipment: Klättermusen, Houdini, Flygbasjägarskolan, Hilleberg and Swedteam.

Orjan out.