Snow Leopard

Status: Endangered

Description:

The Snow Leopard looks very different to the common Leopard. Only the rosettes and broken-spot markings are similar. The Snow Leopard is well known for its fur. It’s covered in spots of black on brown that are further apart than other leopards. Their feet and tails are covered with a thick layer of fur to protect them from the cold. Its fur is long, soft, woolly and grey with brownish, yellow tinges on the flanks and lighter, often white fur on its chin, belly and chest. It has sporty small ears and a heavy rounded brow.

They grow up to about 1.5m long with a tail as long as 1m. It can weigh up to 70kg, but 50kg on average. The Snow Leopard uses its tail to balance while it runs along snow with its large powerful paws supporting the relatively short limbs.

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Diet:

Snow Leopards prey on wild sheep, wild boars, gazelles, hares, birds, markhor (goat like antelope), bobak, tahr (cow like antelope), marmots (large ground squirrels), bharal (blue sheep), mice, deer, musk deers and goats. They stalk their prey from 20-50 feet away using their surroundings to hide them, then keep low and pounce down on their prey. They are solitary hunters and only might share the task with their mate in breeding season.

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Habitat:

The Snow Leopard is found in the mountain region of Central Asia, North Russia, Mongolia, China, and from Tibet all the way to the Himalayan region in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Although the range is large, the areas they are found in are quite small and fragmented. This led to disagreements between experts about the subspeciciation of the Snow Leopard. The cats at the north range are classified as Uncia Uncia Uncia and the south range cats are classified as Uncia Uncia Uncioides. Some suggest that, because of the fragmentation of species in the broad areas, genetic differences may exist.

Snow Leopards are usually found in elevations between 2000-4000m and in the Himalayan regions they can be found as high as 5500m. They are occasionally found lower in the north range. Most of the places they inhabit are generally rocky terrain like high valley ridges, rocky outcrops and mountain passes.

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Breeding:

Female snow leopards give birth to 1-4 cubs in spring, 98-103 days after becoming pregnant. They are born in spring in a rocky shelter, due to harsh weather conditions. Mating season is usually 3 months earlier, in late winter. Being in spring also ensures that there is sufficient food and also makes killing prey easier. The cubs weigh between 320-708g when born and gain about 48g a day. At 3 months of age they follow their mother out for their first hunt, then stay with her for the first winter. They stay with their mother for around 18 months so by the time they leave they will have learnt enough to survive.

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Decline:

There is an estimate of only 3000-7000 left in the wild with about 370 in captivity. Because of the high demand in the illegal fur trade, there are still threats of local hunting and trapping. The bones are still wanted because they’re used in many Chinese medicines. Also prey species are dying leaving the Snow Leopards under pressure to survive.

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Interesting Facts:

Even though the Snow Leopard is called a leopard it’s not actually a leopard or a member of the Panther family. It’s classified as a sole member of the Genus Uncia Uncia. The Snow Leopard can’t give a loud and deep roar, because of the under-development of the fibro-elastic tissue that forms the part of the vocal apparatus. The different skull characteristics are another thing that separates the Snow Leopards from other ‘Big Cats’.

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