Carnivores: Aardwolf African Wild Cat African Wild Dog Banded Mongoose Bat Eared Fox Black-backed Jackal Brown Hyena Cape Clawless Otter Cape Fox Caracal Cheetah Civet Dhole Large Spotted Genet Golden Jackal Honey badger Leopard African Lion Asiatic Lion Sand Cat Serval Side Striped Jackal Snow Leopard Spotted Hyena Striped Hyena Suricate (Meercat) Tiger White Tailed Mongoose Yellow Mongoose
The snow leopard is around 1 to 1.3 metres in length and its tail adds another 80cm - 1m to its total length. The snow leopard typically stands around 60cm high at the shoulder. They weigh between 35 and 75 kg with males being heavier than the females.
The snow leopard has very thick fur to keep it warm in the cold mountain areas where they live, and the fur is a pale grey with large rosette markings. The underside is a pale cream or white colour.
Snow leopard home ranges vary considerably in size, with the size depending largely on the availability of prey. In Nepal home ranges are typically between 12 and 40 square kilometres but in Mongolia where prey is more scarce, they can be as large as 1000 square kilometres. Male and female snow leopards have home ranges that overlap considerably but they avoid being in the same area at the same time - typically remaining voer 1 kilometre apart, except when the female is in oestrus.
Snow Leopards prey mainly on Blue sheep, Ibex, goats and deer, but also eat domestic livestock, boars and marmots. Snow Leopards stalk their prey to get as close as possible before making a short final charge.
Most mating takes place between January and March, and after a gestation period of 90 - 103 days, the female gives birth to between 1 and 4 young (with 2 or 3 being most common). The young are born in a well concealed rocky den lined with some of the mothers fur. The cubs are blind at birth and open their eyes at around one week old. Initially their spots are almost completely black but they gradually fade to form the familiar rosettes as they mature. At two months of age the cubs eat their first solid food and by three months old they are able to follow their mother on hunting trips. The cubs remain with their mother till they are around 18-22 months old. The cubs are sexually mature at around 2 years of age.
The Snow Leopard lives in high mountainous areas. In summer they are mainly found at elevations between 2700 and 6000 metres but during winter they descend to around 1800 metres to follow their prey.
Snow leopards are found in the high mountains of Central Asia and are found in parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Mongolia and China.
Snow Leopards are listed on CITES appendix 1 and are classified as Endangered by the IUCN. The main threat to Snow Leopards is illegal hunting by man - either for their fur or so the bones can be used in traditional Chinese medicine.
© Predator Conservation Trust.
