Dr. Jim Sanderson examines bear claw marks left on a tree.

A good eye is needed to detect scat in the dense undergrowth.

Jim only sets a camera trap if he thinks it might capture an animal. For one thing, the cameras cost time and money to set up. For another, they need to be retrieved at the end of the study, so he records GPS readings (latitude, longitude, and altitude) for each camera.

I went out hiking with Jim on several occasions during the biodiversity survey in Makalu-Barun. He explained to me that the success rate of camera traps varies a lot during this type of study. That’s because the scientific team moves camp often. The total time in the field for a rapid wildlife survey is only about three weeks. In general, he sets as many of his traps as he can during the first few days of the survey, and goes back at the end to retrieve them. In the meantime, he focuses all of his efforts on gathering information in other ways. He’d be thrilled with a camera trap photo, but he can also make conclusions without it.

Near this path is where we set our first camera trap.

For example, reports or sightings of leopards are rare in the forested mountains of Makalu-Barun. He’s heard of only a few in the last several years. Secretive animals, leopards also have a large home range, or territory. He hasn’t found any tracks or scat (yet), but everything suggests that leopards thrive in Makalu-Barun. The many hoofed animals that live here like the musk deer and muntjac represent plenty of food for this carnivore. Leopards live here. A camera trap photo would prove it.

If he had more time, Jim would leave the traps out much longer. He might also use a fifth method to gather information, called radio-tracking. Wildlife biologists often track animal movements using a special collar that emits a radio signal picked up by satellite. The satellite converts the information from the “radio-collar” to GPS locations. The scientists capture a few of the animals they want to study, place radio-collars on them, and collect location data. Combined, these five methods (camera photo trapping, field guide, local stories, animal signs, radio-collar movements) produce detailed studies about animal behavior.

Can you find the camera trap?

So far on this trip, Jim has already set most of his camera traps around Saisima (river valley) and Maghang Kharka (broadleaf forest) because we’ll be going back there. At Chauri Kharka (fir forest) where we are now, he set one trap near a waterhole. Today, we planned to go out after lunch in a different direction. He wanted to look for whatever he could find in the way of mammal evidence in the bamboo stands without disturbing the wildlife near the camera trap. He’d arranged for one of the expedition guides, Rambir, to go with us.

The sun had been out all morning. I actually felt warm and dry for the first time in several days. Then, the freezing, wet fog started to roll in. I was glad we planned a hike. At this elevation, almost 13,000 feet, the temperature drops like a rock when the sun disappears. I would have frozen sitting still in my tent despite wearing every piece of warm clothing in my duffel bag: fleece, down vest, outer jacket, wind pants, and mittens. Feeling a bit stiff in all of my layers, I headed out to find Jim and Rambir. For whatever reason, I had a positive feeling that we would see something today.

We began by sitting down together in the dining “hall” (a very cold cow shed) with the field guide. The camp cook brought us each a cup of tea. We pointed to the picture of each animal in the book and asked Rambir which ones he regularly sees in this area. We made notes of every “yes” and “no” or “maybe” answer. Rambir knows the wildlife in this region fairly well. He belongs to the Sherpa ethnic group in Nepal, a group of people known for their expertise in the mountains. He also has some experience working with scientists and wild mammals. Years ago, he participated in a radio-collaring study of red pandas in another part of the park.

At Chauri Kharka we set one trap near a waterhole.

We started with the herbivores. Most of the tracks and scat we’ve seen so far belong to plant-eating hoofed animals. The most common are three goat-like animals, from small to big: goral, serow, Himalayan tahr. The team has also found tracks of musk deer, barking deer (also called muntjac), and wild boar.

Among the carnivores, several scientists have seen some type of marten or weasel. Rambir confirmed that the local people have seen wild dogs (called dhole) which kill an occasional cow. Red foxes live here, as well. Rambir didn’t point out any of the cat species, although Jim told me later that he’s certain the smaller cats do live here. Species like the Asiatic golden cat and leopard cat always prove hard to see. They tend to be the most elusive of the carnivores, particularly in the forest. Rambir quickly pointed to the pictures of the large cats in the book: larger cats: leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard.

Among the omnivores, Rambir has seen Himalayan black bears at lower elevations. He’s also seen macaques near the Saisima camp site; they raid the millet farms. Rambir and Jim talked about red pandas for a while. Both experts thought they would find this animal or its sign lower down near Maghang Kharka. When Rambir helped with the radio-collar study of red pandas in the 1980’s, they found plenty of animals living in the area. So far on this survey, the only sign of red pandas has been up here at Chauri Kharka.

Red pandas can eat a variety of foods, but they must eat some amount of bamboo to survive. If given a choice, they’ll eat exclusively bamboo. Maybe their bamboo habitat near Maghang Kharka is too close to people. Rambir also explained that more and more herders use that area of the park to graze their cows. They bring their cow herds up here to higher elevation only during the warmer months. My toes were completely frozen by that point in the discussion, so I could understand why.

The camp at Chauri Kharka. Our dining hall was a cow shed!

We finished our tea, and headed out. I grabbed my walking stick and camera, walking quietly behind Jim who followed Rambir. We started off hiking down a steep trail that began on the top of the ridge near camp. We carefully picked our way along a narrow animal path next to a landslide area. Oddly enough, after just five minutes of walking, we found a relatively fresh carnivore print. The foot pads were oval in shape with four toes and no nail marks, narrowing it down to some type of cat. Jim knelt down to measure it: 90 mm. He knows the cat species by the size of their feet, in millimeters. Leopards 90 mm, clouded leopards 58 mm, snow leopards 72 mm. He immediately announced, “Leopard.”

Raising my eyebrows, I repeated “leopard?” Rambir smiled and nodded his head. Looking around at the forest shrouded in mist, I suddenly realized that this animal could be close by. It might even be watching us. It would see, smell, or hear humans long before we would find it hidden among the branches.

Expedition Team Scientists Dr. Dinesh Bhuju and Dr. Rebecca Prahdan

My heart raced for a moment, thinking I might get to see this beautiful cat up close. On second thought, if it were hungry, we could be in trouble. Rambir and Jim looked calm, so I kept my thoughts to myself. We took photographs of the print, marked its GPS location, and moved on. Looking at my photo of the leopard track in my tent later that night, it didn’t look like much of anything. It certainly didn’t convey the sense of awe – and tinge of fear – I felt at that moment.

Two minutes down the trail, Rambir spotted a large pile of red panda scat on a mossy tree limb. He smiled again, and explained that when he studied the red pandas he would sit very still in the forest watching the tree branches. You can find the pandas only when they wake up. When they lift up their round, white heads, you can see them. Otherwise, they blend in with the red and black moss that covers the thick tree branches.

A sleeping place for Himalayan tahr.

Continuing on, Rambir found an animal trail made by cloven hooves. We followed it for over an hour along the side of the ridge below camp. I asked him what animal we were following. He answered “This is a tahr way.” He pointed out that no cows or people walked here, because it was too steep. Sure enough, the walk turned into a slow crawl. We climbed over fallen logs and pushed our way through thickets of bamboo, all at an angle.

The forest looked very similar to where I walked with the plant ecologists, Rebecca and Dinesh. They taught me a bit about the different tree species and how to recognize suitable habitat for red pandas. Trees towered above the bamboo: a mixture of huge firs, straight and narrow birch, and messy-looking rhododendron trees. Their branches were covered with moss.

These moss covered branches would make a perfect nest for a red panda.

On the top side of the tree limbs, the moss looked red. Momentarily, the sun peeked through the clouds and the color changed to dark orange. On the bottom side, it looked black. Red pandas have black fur on their legs and orange-red fur covering most of their body. As Rambir described, they have white fur on their face surrounding their eyes. I could easily imagine this animal sleeping with its dark legs wrapped around a tree branch, perfectly camouflaged by the moss.

Suddenly, Rambir heard a noise. He picked up the pace. I guessed he was tracking the Himalayan tahr. Looking for an animal, we spotted something else: a pile of red and grey fluffy material in the middle of a small rocky area. Rambir thought some type of bird – a mountain hawk eagle – had flown down into the forest and captured a pheasant, leaving behind a fluff of feathers. As we got closer, we realized that we had found a red panda, a dead one.

Was this red panda killed by a leopard?

Jim picked up the pelt. Remarkably, it looked as if someone had skinned with a knife. We found part of the skull nearby, but nothing else. The teeth looked like those of a young animal. Breathing hard and sweating in all my layers, I asked him what animal would kill a juvenile red panda in that manner. The answer: a leopard.