Dr. Rodney Jackson brings his ‘ambassador’ to Quarryhill lecture

Bhutan, a young snow leopard cub, will be the guest of honor at Quarryhill when Jackson discusses his life-long study of the snow leopard on Aug. 18.|

About the Wild Cat Fund

The Wild Cat Education and Conservation Fund, located in Occidental, started developing an outreach education program with ambassador cats in 1993. They average over 100 presentations per year, visiting schools, libraries, scout groups, park and recreation centers, and private venues.

“These are captive-born wild cats, but they are wild animals, they are not pets,” said director Barbara Dicely. “They are trained, not tame.”

The nonprofit facility has ocelots, servals, cheeta and other cats, as well as snow leopards.

The Snow Leopard Conservancy is one of six conservation partners of the Wildcat Fund, and over the years, according to Dicely, earlier Snow Leopard Ambassadors Chhinsu and Asha brought over $200,000 in donations to the SLC.

More information about the Wild Cat Education and Conservation Fund is online at www.wildcatfund.org.

For more on the Snow Leopard Conservancy, see snowleopardconservancy.org

Recent wildlife news in Sonoma Valley has focused on the local mountain lion research project, Living with Lions. But there’s another, even longer-lived wild feline program going on locally, run out of a small converted house on Boyes Boulevard: The Snow Leopard Conservancy, under director Rodney Jackson.

Jackson will discuss his life-long study of the snow leopard of the Asian mountains on Saturday, Aug. 18, at Quarryhill Botanical Garden’s education terrace. For over 30 years, Jackson has been working to ensure snow leopard survival and conserve mountain landscapes by expanding environmental awareness and sharing innovative practices through community stewardship and partnerships.

Jackson will also introduce his new “snow leopard ambassador” Bhutan, just four months old, at the Quarryhill lecture.

The Snow Leopard Conservancy, the organization that grew out of Jackson’s experience, works closely with rural herders and farmers whose lives are directly impacted when snow leopards prey upon their livestock.

His lifelong efforts have helped livestock herders from the Himalayas to southern Siberia co-exist with snow leopards, and to restore traditional ways, including their connection to the cat as a powerful totem. His current research activities and subsequent stories focus on people-wildlife conflict and noninvasive techniques for assessing snow leopard populations.

His approach is mirrored by the efforts of Living with Lions to convince local farmers and ranchers that coexistence with mountain lions is the preferred means of handling situations when a wild cat preys on domestic pets or livestock.

In fact it was the opportunity to work with Jackson that brought the director of Living with Lions, Quinton Martins – likewise a feline ecologist, whose previous work was in South Africa – to Sonoma.

Following his lecture, “Conserving the Rare Ghost Cat of the Himalaya and Beyond,” Jackson will introduce the snow leopard cub Bhutan, a new “snow leopard ambassador” from Occidental’s Wildcat Fund.

Bhutan, who will be 13 weeks old the week of Aug. 18, was born at a private zoo in Kansas and came to California about two months ago. While male snow leopards reach about 100 pounds – making them the smallest of the “big cats” – Bhutan now weighs about 14 pounds. He follows the Wildcat Fund’s earlier snow leopards Chhinsu and Asha as wildlife ambassadors to educate and inform the public about wild cats and the risks they face due to habitat loss and other environmental factors.

Jackson is the second speaker of Quarryhill’s annual three-part Peter H. Raven Lecture Series, following tree ecologist Steve Sillett last month and, on Sept. 29, Peter Del Tredici of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum.

Quarryhill is located at 12841 Sonoma Highway in Glen Ellen. It will open its gates at 5 p.m. for Jackson’s “Conserving the Rare Ghost Cat of the Himalaya” on Aug. 18. Lecture starts at 5:30 on the outdoor education terrace. $35 for members; $45 non-members. Refreshments will be available for purchase. For tickets and more information, visit www.quarryhillbg.org/page162.html

Email Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

About the Wild Cat Fund

The Wild Cat Education and Conservation Fund, located in Occidental, started developing an outreach education program with ambassador cats in 1993. They average over 100 presentations per year, visiting schools, libraries, scout groups, park and recreation centers, and private venues.

“These are captive-born wild cats, but they are wild animals, they are not pets,” said director Barbara Dicely. “They are trained, not tame.”

The nonprofit facility has ocelots, servals, cheeta and other cats, as well as snow leopards.

The Snow Leopard Conservancy is one of six conservation partners of the Wildcat Fund, and over the years, according to Dicely, earlier Snow Leopard Ambassadors Chhinsu and Asha brought over $200,000 in donations to the SLC.

More information about the Wild Cat Education and Conservation Fund is online at www.wildcatfund.org.

For more on the Snow Leopard Conservancy, see snowleopardconservancy.org

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