Snow leopard rehabilitation centre

[eccles1]

Hi,

I read there is a snow leopard rehabilitation centre to the west of Issyk Kul - but I can't find any information on it? Any one got any details on it and if it worth going to visit/how to get there?

Thanks

[togreiser]

Hi,

It looks like this is maybe something that is run by NABU. You can try to contact them.
(village of Ananyevo, on the northern shore of Issyk-Kol, the NABU Rehabilitation Center for Wild Animals )

https://en.nabu.de/projects/kyrgyzstan/index.html


If you find out that it is possible to visit, please let me know

Edit:

I found some more information:

The NABU Rehabilitation Center for Wild Animals is in the mountains above the village of Ananyevo on the north shore of lake Issyk-Kol. You’ll have to get permission from the head of the center, Director Kylagin, if you want to visit. He is known by reputation in the village and somebody should be able to either call him for you or point you to where you can find him.

The center itself is quite a few kilometers in from the main road and not at all obvious to find, so it would be worth asking around for a driver that is already confident of the way.

Most people will visit from either Cholpon Ata or Karakol, or perhaps en route between the two. There are hostels in Cholpon Ata and a number of guesthouses in Karakol, so the question is really one of whether you value spending time in the mountains of Karakol (about 80k away from Ananyevo) or the beaches of Cholpon Ata (about a 40k drive from Ananyevo).

[Irisz]

Thanks for the infos, we will be in the issyk-kul region in a few days for about a week and will try to get there or get more information on it
If someone wants to team up for a visit, i'd be happy to go together!
Iris

[Irisz]

Update:
Hi!
We went to the center today from Grigoryevka.
We stay at the Bet Zhan Guesthouse and the owner (really cool lady btw) arranged it for us. She knows a guy who knows the guy, who runs the center, and who agreed to drive us there. You need a Jeep because it's quite a bit up in the mountains and there is an unpaved road.
So we paid the guy who has a suited car and the contact 1200 som and he took us there.
He also translated a little bit for us since the man who runs the center doesn't speak much English.
Judging from the guestbook he has quite some visitors and he was happy to show us around.
It was fun (and also a nice drive through some farms on the hills) BUT you should not expect too much. It's a small reserve with cages for injured birds, lix' and foxes besides the leopards. There are two snow leopards, both quite old and one missing a paw, thats why he can't be released to the wild. They were found when people tried to smuggle then over the border to kazachstan in 2016 and live there since then. It was cool to see them and I would go again, especially because the guy was really nice, but it's not too much of a difference than looking at them in a zoo.