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Animal Planet
“Dogs: The Untold Story” featuring one of our Bankhar dogs is premiering tomorrow night in the United States with two parts of a four part series. It is showing at 9pm and 11pm on Animal Planet (Parts “Stronger Together” and “Wild Workers”). The documentary contains a segment on one of our working Bankhar dogs, Panda, […]
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Connecticut College – Landrace Guardians
To restore an ancient way of life for Mongolian herders, a Connecticut-based NGO is reintroducing a special type of dog to safeguard livestock. BY EILEEN JENKINS Your dog may be able to catch a Frisbee, but can it preserve an ageless culture in the wilds of Mongolia? Scientists at the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project, a small […]
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Orsilla gave birth
Orsilla gave birth to seven pups! Field scientist Zoë Lieb says that they haven’t been able to get in there for many photos yet because the momma dog has been keeping them nice and warm in her dog house, but we’ll be sure to post photos as soon as we can! Update! Here is the […]
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Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world.
Winter in Mongolia is not something to be taken likely. Though Mongolia is impossibly beautiful to look at in the winter, as you can see from Zoe’s amazing photos below, it is also very challenging. In December, the daily high temperature will fall from 15 degrees Fahrenheit to 1 degree as we near January. Luckily […]
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Houses fit for royalty!
Our field team has been working long and hard on making our new facilities even better than our last ones. Their last project has been constructing dog and sheep shelters. Though both the Bankhar and livestock are incredibly tough and very well adapted to the harsh Mongolian steppe, they do need somewhere to escape the snow […]
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Biogeographic Breeding Mimicry
What is a “Steppe Dog”……… “Silk Road Dogs” It is clear, the more you look into the “Livestock” dogs of Asia that the group is basically one continuum of type. I refer to this group of landrace dogs as “Steppe Dogs” – meaning having come from and moved via the steppes and with the steppe […]
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DNA Study of the Bankhar Project
“This is a Mongolian solution to a Mongolian problem based on ancient Mongolian tradition.” NGF Founder Bruce Elfstrom, on restoring the bankhar population to peacefully protect livestock Click image to download full study (two pages)
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ABC News Australia
How two young Americans ended up breeding a Mongolian dog to save snow leopards and wolves By Emilia Terzon Posted 14 Aug 2015, 1:04am As the freezing winter descended, Doug Lally was almost too busy building a dog shelter to contemplate the imminent arrival of his main reason for being in Mongolia. “There was a […]
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Wonderful People!
Check out this great photo collage of some of the wonderful people the MBDP is working with! It would be impossible to achieve our goals without the support and hard work from people like this. We are very lucky to be collaborating with so many dedicated individuals who are all working towards protecting the environment […]
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Featured in INK Magazine
Thanks to INK Magazine for the great feature article on MBDP Read it online here – or pick up a copy of this beautifully produced magazine to check out their guide to finer living in Connecticut & abroad.
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Climate Change Issues
Summers are shorter, which leads to less developed grasslands and the plants that do grow contain fewer nutrients. Higher temperatures lead to increased evaporation and water loss. The stress this causes to the grasslands, results in smaller root systems and less robust plants. Decreased overall rainfall but … more frequent large rain events. These are […]
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MBDP Climate Change Solutions
While our goals are focused on grassroots efforts and cooperating with other programs we hope through our existence to make people aware of the massive ramifications of climate change. Education through teaching people about the interconnection of all aspects of the planet. Education of our herders. Through working with us herders learn of climate change […]
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Cultural Issues
Mongolia’s Soviet Union influenced Socialist period lead to loss of community and with that the loss of elders’ traditional herding knowledge and evolved traditions for a portion of the herder population. In 1990 the Soviet Union collapse, grasslands were opened up to all citizens, some of whom had not been taught or benefitted from traditional […]
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MDBP Cultural Solutions
We work with local community groups and cooperatives in order to chose herders to offer Bankhar. Enhanced community involvement by herders helps usher in other community knowledge that a herder might not have or might not have implemented. We collaborate with community elders and other leadership to select participants for our program. These elders then […]
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Economic Issues
With the 1990 collapse of the Soviet Union, Mongolia moved almost overnight to a market-driven economy. Larger herds lead to changes in pastoral husbandry. The Cashmere market strengthened, which led to goats being kept as the main livestock species. Goats eat grasses to the roots and cause more damage than the traditional mixed herds of […]
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MDBP Economic Solutions
Through cooperation with the local community and cooperative leaders we connect our project and the placement of Bankhar with existing economic incentives that favor ecologically sustainable practices as well as economic benefits for the herders themselves. We ask our herders to join incentive systems that ultimately diversify their income to shift their practices in a […]
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Predator Issues
An increase in poaching causes a decrease in the apex predators’ natural prey which, in turn, causes these predators to target domestic livestock. An increased loss of livestock to predation causes herders to “hedge their bets” and keep more livestock than the land can naturally handle. An increased die-off from Winter Dzuds provides easy prey […]
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MBDP Predator Solutions
Livestock Guardian Dogs are an effective and proven, non-lethal method of direct and indirect predator deterrent. Deterring predators, results in fewer livestock losses. Fewer losses means that herds can be kept smaller as more are likely to survive. Fewer livestock, especially fewer goats, increase carrying capacity for grasslands and therefore increase wild grazing populations that […]
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Barbus Update
Remember the Bankhar pup named Barbus who we placed with a new family this spring? Here’s a photo of him and his new companion, an orphaned foal who also lives at the Three Camel Lodge in the Gobi desert. Barbus is a special case because he will not be quite as active a livestock guardian […]
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Curious about the Gobi desert?
Here is a bit of adventure writing about the Singing Sands by our media coordinator Petra Elfström! “The sand shifted, slithering out from under my toes to tumble down the slopes of the dune on either side of me. I walked along the thin ridge, my legs burning from the strain of climbing the dune, […]
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Wild Art Mongolia
We’d like to thank Susan Fox (WildArt Mongolia Expeditions), Kim Campbell Thornton (PetConnection column), and Oliver Hartman (Jungles in Paris) for visiting the MBDP’s facilities as part of the 2016 WildArt Mongolia Expedition! WildArt’s mission is to create pieces of art that are influenced by environmental conservation. We can’t wait to see what our Bankhar […]
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Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism, also called Northern Buddhism, spread to Mongolia in the 13th century around the time that the Khans brought Tibet into the Mongol empire. It was then that Buddhism joined Shamanism as one of the main faiths of the land. During the Communist regime all religion was crushed by the government and more than […]
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Gers & Ger Camps
In many of our posts we mention “gers” and “ger camps,” and while many of our followers know what a ger is, this is a post for those of you who do not! A ger is the traditional dwelling of the Mongolian people, and is a structure commonly used today as it has been for […]
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The Five Jewels
The “Five Jewels” or “Five Snouts” of Mongolia are the five main types of livestock of the herders of Mongolia. Horses, sheep, goats, cows, and camels are incredibly important forms of livelihood across the steppes, desert, and mountains. Yaks are also often lumped in with cows as another “jewel” of Mongolia. All five species can […]
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Working in Pairs
An interesting fact that we have found throughout our research and work in Mongolia and elsewhere, is that Livestock Guardian Dogs, while they work very well solo, work even better in pairs! A pair of dogs that have grown up with livestock will often form a rotating shift so that one of them is always […]
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The Uniqueness of Mongolia
Mongolia is not only a unique place in terms of wildlife and culture, but the landscapes that one encounters throughout the country are so varied and magnificent that every way you look is another extreme and breathtaking view. Mongolia is not an easy place to live in with its harsh climate, and the variety of […]
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Bichigtiin Khundii
During our travels, we visited Bichigtiin Khundii. This means “The Valley of the Ancient Script” in English and is named after the incredible petroglyphs that decorate almost every rock face. There are drawings of many creatures, from gazelle to camels to humans hunting deer. The drawings date to the late Stone Age, which was around […]
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Huffington Post June 28, 2016
Dogs Save Snow Leopards and Wolves in Mongolia The Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project, is a non-profit, non-governmental, conservation organization registered in Mongolia since October 2014. The organization built the first livestock guardian breeding and training facility in Mongolia. The concept is unlikely: raise dogs to protect sheep to save wolves and snow leopards.
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Data Collection, Research and Reporting
MBDP will systematically collect data from host families, partner NGOs and independent research to determine the effectiveness of Bankhar dogs in preventing livestock predation. Data collected will aid research in: Determining Bankhar effectiveness as predator deterrent Perfecting training for families Determining the temperament or action of the dogs most effective as a predator deterrent Health, […]
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Shaman good luck ceremony
During the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project and Overland Experts trip, we were lucky enough to meet up with a local Shaman while we were near Khara-khorum. Shamanism was the preliminary religious/spiritual path of Mongolia, and though Buddhism later became the main practice, Shamanism is still practiced today and is still an important part of Mongolian […]
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Monitoring Progress
During each visit to a host family, if the dog wasn’t far away with the herds, we took the opportunity to collect some data. As mentioned before, the MBDP team not only took notes on the herder’s responses to the dog, but we also recorded the height and weight of each young Bankhar dog. We […]
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Søren Nielson’s Mongolia & the Bankhar Dog Album
Follow Søren on Flicker HERE All photographs © Søren Nielson – all rights reserved
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Soyolbold Sergelen’s Nomadic Culture Album
Follow Soyolbold, our official Photographer and Translator on Flicker HERE All photographs © Soyolbold Sergelen – all rights reserved
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On the Move
Two days ago we were informed by the Environmental Police of Ulaanbaatar (UB) that they will force our project and dog facilities to leave the lands [that we lease outside of UB] for non-compliance. We’re not sure what we’re not complying to, but we feel it’s best that we move to the new lands we’ve already […]
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Meet Barbus
Meet Barbus! This little guy was one of our fellow travelers at the beginning of the OEX-MBDP Mongolia trip as we transported him to his new owner at Three Camel Lodge. He was one of the Bankhar pups from our January litter, and was surprisingly well behaved and stoic for being so young. Our goal was […]
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Trip Roundup
The Overland Experts and Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project Trip was a great success! Our group of travelers consisted of a wonderful mix of adventurous minds and hearts that we were thrilled to introduce to the world of the Bankhar dog and the intense culture and environment that is Mongolia. The desert became our home for […]
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Breeding
NGF will use the DNA data collected and analyzed by its partners to ensure maximal out breeding. Aside from DNA, paramount to breeding par choice is working ability – does the individual work livestock in an effective manner. General health, confirmation (fur length, bone structure) and size (large size is needed to be effective), are […]
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Checking up on our pups
As we traveled through desert and steppe, and even through high mountain passes, we visited some of the dogs our crew has placed with herders over the last two years or so. Though our placed dogs live in the Gobi region, Hustai national park, and Terelj park, during this trip we only visited a couple […]
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Soyolbold Sergelen’s Bankhar: Man’s Best Friend Album
Follow Soyolbold, our official Photographer and Translator on Flicker HERE All photographs © Soyolbold Sergelen – all rights reserved
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Press Release Jan 2015
First litter of rare puppies born in innovative Mongolian conservation project January 2015 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia The first litter of Bankhar puppies belonging to the Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project (MBDP) was born at their kennels outside of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia during the last week of December 2014. MBDP’s mission is to breed, train and reintroduce this nearly extinct […]
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MBDP Launches Indiegogo campaign for 2016 funds
For Immediate Release Contact: Kate Fritz, press@bankhar.org (707)484-8885 Website: http://igg.me/at/bankhar, www.bankhar.org NGO announces campaign to raise funds for one year of livestock protection dog breeding, training in Mongolia Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia—Mongolian Bankhar Dog Project (MBDP), a 501(c)3 non-profit that breeds, trains and places Bankhar livestock protection dogs with nomadic herder host families, has launched its Indiegogo crowdfunding […]
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Placement + Continued Education
A head-started and bonded dog or group of dogs will be placed with host families carefully chosen based on stringent criteria that should result in the highest effectiveness of the dogs during their working life, and that provide the biggest conservation and environmental impact. Prior to placement, host families are selected based on strict guidelines.In […]
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Huffington Post December 20th, 2015
Mongolian dog tradition revived to protect sheep, leopards TUV AIMAG, Mongolia (AP) – Through three decades of marriage, they have wandered together across the rolling hills of Mongolia’s northern Tuv Province, accompanied by their herd of sheep and stalked by the wolves and snow leopards that threaten their livelihood.
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Meet Arlson
Name: Arlson Sex: Male Height (inches): 26” Weight (kilos/lbs): 38/83.6 Meaning of Name: Mongol word for Lion Approximate age: 5+ yrs Origin: South Govi Breeding Site: Gachuurt Housed/Bred with: Bred with Red Scarf Personality: Arlson is cat-like except for his mean bark and growl. He is friendly with us, but doesn’t like strangers. He does […]
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Meet Baavgai
Name: Baavgai Sex: Male Height (inches): 30” Weight (kilos/lbs): 48/105.6 Meaning of Name: Mongol word for Bear Approximate age: 5-6 yrs Breeding Site: Has not bred Housed/Bred with: Lives with Spork Personality: Stoic, friendly, menacing at times, intelligent and powerful. He will pull you across the steppe or sneak out of his kennel before your […]
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Meet Bradley
Name: Bradley Sex: Male Height (inches): 26” Weight (kilos/lbs): 32/70.4 Approximate age: 1+ yrs Breeding Site: Has not bred Personality: Playful, energetic, likes to cause trouble with Chad. Likes to wrestle
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Meet Chad
Name: Chad Sex: Male Height (inches): 26” Weight (kilos/lbs): 34/74.8 Approximate age: 1+ yrs Breeding Site: Has not bred Personality: Brad and Chad like to dig, escape, bark, tag-team wrestle
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Meet Red Scarf
Name: Red Scarf Sex: Female Height (inches): 25” Weight (kilos/lbs): 32/70.4 Meaning of Name: Wears a red scarf collar Approximate age: 5+ yrs Breeding Site: Gachuurt Housed/Bred with: Mated w Arlson Personality: Has mothered pups before. Calm, loving and experienced. One of our best mothers. Medium Energy
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Training/ Bonding
It is essential that effective livestock protection dogs be raised with livestock (sheep in this case) from early on and have just enough socialization with humans to allow handling of the dog and a close working relationship with host family. The dogs must bond primarily with livestock only and not humans. They will act as […]
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