Snow Leopard Scientist Tsewang Namgail Receives Disney Conservation Hero Award

June 14, 2021

Media Contact: Susie Weller Sheppard, 347-446-9904, sweller@panthera.org

New York, NY – Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, and its affiliate organization, Snow Leopard Conservancy - India Trust (SLC-IT), announced today that SLC-IT Director and Senior Scientist Tsewang Namgail has been honored with a Disney Conservation Hero Award. The award recognizes local citizens for their commitment to save wildlife, protect habitats and inspire their communities to take part in conservation efforts. Recipients from around the world were nominated by nonprofit environmental organizations, and each honoree and their nominating organization will share a $1,500 award from the Disney Conservation Fund.

Tsewang Namgail is one of only 20 award recipients in the 2020 cohort globally. “I am thrilled and humbled to receive this prestigious award, which is a huge recognition of my conservation efforts over two decades. I thank Disney Conservation Fund, Panthera, local communities and the dedicated members of my team for their unstinting support. It is my hope that this award brings to the fore the precarious state of Asia’s mountain ghosts and the simple, community-led solutions that provide hope, security and life for the snow leopard and those people sharing their homes with the species,” stated Tsewang Namgail upon receiving the award.

In the northern Indian region of Ladakh, home to 60 percent of India's snow leopards, Namgail leads a team of 13 dedicated people along with students and volunteers to reduce conflict between snow leopards and farmers, and find solutions to benefit local people through community-based tourism, education and research. Alongside his team, he has helped build snow leopard-proof corrals to protect livestock, promote local food production and expand innovative micro-enterprises like eco-cafes and more than 200 homestays that invite tourists to stay in community homes. These programs help empower women, offset livestock losses to snow leopards and show the value of a thriving population of snow leopards in improving the economic standing of herding communities.

Tsewang’s passion for positively impacting this special place where he grew up has helped grow a community-based conservation and education program into a model that has been emulated not just in India, but across snow leopard range in Asia.

Disney Conservation is committed to saving wildlife and building a global community inspired to work together to protect the magic of nature. Since 1995, the Disney Conservation Fund has directed more than $100 million to support nonprofit organizations working with communities to save wildlife, inspire action and protect the planet, and has honored more than 200 Conservation Heroes for their extraordinary conservation efforts.

For information on Disney’s commitment to conservation and a complete list of recent Conservation Hero Award recipients, visit Disney.com/Conservation.

About Panthera
Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to preserving wild cats and their critical role in the world’s ecosystems. Panthera’s team of leading biologists, law enforcement experts and wild cat advocates develop innovative strategies based on the best available science to protect cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, snow leopards, tigers and the 33 small cat species and their vast landscapes. In 35 countries around the world, Panthera works with a wide variety of stakeholders to reduce or eliminate the most pressing threats to wild cats—securing their future, and ours. 

About Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust
Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust (SLC-IT), founded in 2003, promotes innovative grassroots conservation measures that lead local people to become better stewards of the charismatic snow leopard, its prey and habitat. SLC-IT strongly believes that conservation goals cannot be achieved without involving local communities in decision making, planning and implementation of conservation programs. Therefore, it works closely with communities that share resources with the snow leopard and other wildlife. See more at snowleopardindia.org.