Ecology training in local schools

Beginning of May, GGB SPA rangers, biologist Ganbaatar and veterinarian Angela Bescek provided training to a total of 226 students of the 8th-10th grades of the Altai, Uench, and Bulgan Sums (Hovd Province) on the following topics: “What is a Strictly Protected Area? What is the job of a ranger? What are biologists doing?” This spring, a field trip will be organized for the students of the 10th grade of Uench Sum to learn more about the Strictly Protected Area.

This spring, a field trip will be organized for the students of the 10th grade of Uench Sum to learn more about the Strictly Protected Area. The focus will be on where the borders of the GGB SPA are, what rangers do every day, and what kind of wildlife species live there.

This training is planned to be held this fall for the students of Tonkhil and Bugat soums of Gobi-Altai province.

Vet Med Workshop in the Gobi

One of the many tasks of the rangers in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area is wildlife monitoring. This also includes the recording of dead wildlife. Last week a training of the staff took place to sensitize them to wildlife diseases and mortalities, and in the worst case scenario to animal epidemics. Within the framework of the workshop, topics such as zoonotic diseases, postmortem examinations, and the collection of (tissue) samples were discussed. However, the focus was on the documentation and registration of dead wildlife, for which a short field trip also took place. This training was intended to better understand the cause of deaths in wildlife, to promptly detect circulating diseases, and control its spread with prophylactic measures.

New Takhi Post online

One steppe, one health

“The well-being of humans, animals, plants, fungi and ecosystems — the entire biodiversity — is closely interlinked.”

Read more about the “One Health” approach in the newest Takhi Post.

Veterinarian support

Angela Becsek, a Swiss veterinarian specialized in equine medicine, arrived in Takhiin Tal. In the next couple of weeks, she will be assisting Dalai, the takhi researcher, in the examination of dead wildlife, especially the takhi that died in the harsh dzuud winter. These “postmortem” examinations are essential for understanding why individual animals die and, overall, are an essential cornerstone of wildlife monitoring. It thus serves, for example, the early detection of diseases and allows timely intervention and prophylactic measures to be taken before animal diseases spread.

Learning Wild Course

We are very excited to invite you to join the first ever Learning Wild trip to Mongolia to observe and learn about these iconic equids. This once-in-a lifetime experience promises to be not only a rare and immersive journey through a wonderful country but also an opportunity to directly study and learn from and about the world’s last truly wild horse.

The course is hosted by the equine experts Dr. Emily Kieson (Equine International) and Bonny Mealand (Touching Wild). Your guides will be Dr. Reinhard Schnidrig, president of the ITG, takhi researcher Dalaitseren Sukhbaatar (ITG), and ranger Dagvasuren (Great Gobi B).

With this trip, you support the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area and its local population.

Tsagaan Sar

This week the Mongolian New Year is celebrated. We welcome the Year of the Rabbit. Tsagaan Sar – White Moon – is the most important holiday in Mongolia and marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Annual ITG Workshop

In January, the ITG once again held its annual workshop. Finally, a face-to-face meeting was possible again. A motivated team from Mongolia, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Norway, and Germany gathered at Wildnispark Zurich to share project progress and pave the way for many activities in 2023. This year we had the pleasure of having representatives from Nuremberg Zoo and Berlin Zoo/Tierpark Berlin attend our workshop to discuss closer collaboration in the future. Besides, the cooperation with our partners of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) in Mongolia is crucial and we were pleased to welcome their representatives to our workshop.

We all focus our energy and enthusiasm on one goal: the conservation of the primordial wild horse and its habitat! Protection of this unique ecosystem with all its inhabitants: flora, fauna and people.

Merry Christmas

Cashmere for Future

Cashmere from the Mongolian steppe secures the future of nomads and wild horses.

On December 2, ITG together with EDELZiEGE organized an information evening on cashmere wool and its production in the Dzungarian Gobi desert. The protected area Great Gobi B is used seasonally by about 280 herder families. The herders make their living mainly by combing their cashmere goats. The cashmere wool thus obtained is then processed into beautiful and warming fashion. But how can sustainable production succeed? How can livestock numbers be reconciled with nature conservation goals? And how can socially just and ecological production be achieved?

These are the questions being addressed by an ITG working group under the motto “Cashmere for Future”. A herder cooperative founded this fall is now making a start.

In 2023, we will start a year full of new (wool) adventures.

News on key people

The long-time director of the Great Gobi B reserve, Oyunsaikhan Ganbaatar, resigned at the end of September 2022 to take on a new challenge in conservation.

O. Ganbaatar began working for takhi reintroduction back in 1999 – then as a biology student with Prof. Ravchig Samija, who was closely associated with the project. A takhi research program was just emerging. Ganbaatar, a man of great dedication, quickly became indispensable to the project and emerged as an outstanding takhi expert, building up an enormous wealth of experience and data over the years. His excellent networking with regional and national politicians, herders, gamekeepers and the ITG, as well as his political flair, decisively advanced the reintroduction program; a highlight was the park expansion in 2019. Ganbaatar also did a lot of information work in Mongolia and at international conferences and is widely recognized. In his new commitment, Ganbaatar will assess another area for its suitability for takhi release. At the same time, he will complete his dissertation.

ITG sincerely thanks O. Ganbaatar for 23 years of invaluable service to the cause of takhi reintroduction. We wish him and his family every success in his future endeavours!

As a result of the resignation of O. Ganbaatar, the directorate of the Great Gobi B reserve is being restaffed. Ad interim N. “Aagi” Altansukh takes over this responsible task. He comes from the hamlet of Bij on the northeastern border of the reserve and holds a Bachelor in Economics and Accounting from the International Institute of Economics and Business; a Bachelor as an Environmental Protection Ecologist from the Institute of Environmental Management; and a Master in Biology from Khovd University. He has been working since 2007 as a specialist, later senior specialist, for the reserve. He is therefore very familiar with the local conditions and stakeholders.

We congratulate N. Altansukh on his new position and look forward to a productive collaboration with him.