The main threats to Pallas's cat conservation are livestock, illegal poaching and habitat loss. Livestock presence can result in a negative impact on the Pallas's cat due to exploitation of pastures, hence reducing food availability of small mammals such as lagomorphs and rodents which are usually eaten by this species. In addition, herding dogs and human-killings represent one of the major causes of mortality of Pallas's cats.
Effective wildlife management and conservation requires knowledge of the population size. Only few population has been estimated in Mongolia using rigorous scientific methods. By means of camera trapping, with our partners institutions we aim to estimate the populations of western Gobi desert, and Mongolian trans-Altai, after we estimated some population in the Mongolian western Altai.
Research and Conservation of Elephants and Large Carnivores in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Upemba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo Africa’s big five (elephants, rhinos, Cape buffaloes, lions, leopards) are some of the continent’s most iconic wild species and part of the dreams of each naturalist, as well as of those grewed up dreaming Africa through stunning documentary footage. Few people are aware that such feelings arise from a specific south-eastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Leader of Wildlife Initiative International and Executive Director of Wildlife Initiative Mongolia.
Claudio is the co-founder of Wildlife Initiative International.
As an ecologist he has a great experience in working on Mongolian carnivores. Since 2012, he mainly worked on the snow leopard and the Pallas’s cat. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), a member of the Steering Committee of the Manul Working Group, and a member of the Snow Leopard Network. He holds collaborations with many researchers and conservation institutions across the world and he is a partner of Snow Leopard Conservancy. As the Wildlife Initiative leader, he coordinates the activities of the NGO throughout the four continents, taking part in the field work and managing the relationships with all the stakeholders. He has been living with his family in Mongolia since 2013.