Snow Leopard
This shy feline, native to the mountainous regions of Central Asia, loves steep, rocky terrain. The Snow Leopard is crepuscular, meaning that it is most active during dawn and dusk, and also solitary, grouping together only during mating season.
- Length 1,00-1,30 m
- Weight 40-75 kg
- Longevity 21 years
- Diet Ungulates, goats and sheep
- Habitat Mountain
- Reproduction 3 cubs
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Morphology
Snow Leopard has a dense grey and yellow color and has a pattern of irregular dark grey patches. The Snow Leopard’s powerful physical constitution allows it to climb large steep slopes with ease. A long tail provides balance and agility and also involves the animal, when at rest, as protection from the cold.
Behaviour
It is a territorial animal, which marks its territory with urine, feces and scraping on the ground. He lives alone, except in the mating season. It is more active at dusk, being able to capture prey almost three times its size. He is an exceptional athlete, capable of making great leaps over ravines. Unlike other big cats, Snow Leopards do not roar. Instead, they emit a high-pitched howl, especially when the females are in heat. They are the main predators, have few natural predators besides humans.
Conservation
There are less than 5000 Snow Leopards in the world. Climate change represents the biggest long-term threat to these animals. The Tibetan plateau, home to more than half of this species, has already grown 3 degrees warmer in the last 20 years, impacting the entire ecosystem: vegetation, water supply, animals - and threatens to render up to one-third of the Snow Leopard habitat unusable. The conflict with local populations has increased because, as their natural prey runs out, the Leopards are forced to kill livestock to survive. Illegal hunting to trade animal body parts on the black market has proved to be alarming. between 2008 and 2016, a Snow Leopard was killed and traded every day!
