Population monitoring of snow leopards using camera trapping in Naryn State Nature Reserve, Kyrgyzstan, between 2016 and 2019

International audienceHighlights:• Citizen science is a useful tool for monitoring snow leopard (Panthera uncia) populations over long periods of time.• Naryn State Nature reserve hosts a breeding population of at least 5 snow leopards with a balanced sex ratio along the study.• Snow leopards territories overlaps regardless of their sex in Naryn State Nature reserve.• Significant snow leopard presence at the edge and buffer zone of the reserve advocates for extending the core reserve limits.Abstract:Four field seasons of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) camera trapping inside Naryn State Nature Reserve, Kyrgyzstan, performed thanks to citizen science expeditions, allowed detecting a minimal population of five adults, caught every year with an equilibrated sex ratio (1.5:1) and reproduction: five cubs or subadults have been identified from three litters of two different females. Crossings were observed one to three times a year, in front of most camera traps, and several times a month in front of one of them. Overlap of adults' minimal territories was observed in front of several camera traps, regardless of their sex. Significant snow leopard presence was detected in the buffer area and at Ulan area which is situated at the reserve border. To avoid poaching on this apex predator and its preys, extending the more stringent protection measures of the core zone to both the Southern buffer area and land adjacent to Ulan is recommended