Mary Allen
The snow leopard roams quietly and almost invisibly through the mountains of the Himalayas: With its grey-white fur and dark spots, it is excellently camouflaged.
Characteristics
What does a snow leopard look like?
Snow leopards are carnivores and belong to the cat family and there to the big cats. At first glance, they could be confused with the leopards of Africa: both have black dotted fur. But a second look reveals that snow leopards are different: their fur is longer and lights gray to white in color.
The animals change their fur twice a year. The summer fur is less dense and shorter than the thick winter fur. The fur markings are lighter in the winter fur, so the predators are even better camouflaged in the white snowy landscape and can hardly be seen. In their homeland, they are therefore also called – phantoms of the mountains. With their dense fur, snow leopards appear very bulky, but they are smaller than their African relatives.
From head to bottom they measure 80 to 130 centimeters, plus the 80 to 100-centimeter long tail. Your shoulder height is about 60 centimeters. The males weigh on average between 45 and 55 kilograms, very large specimens also 75 kilograms. The females only weigh 35 to 40 kilograms. The very long tail is very hairy. When jumping, the animals use it as a rudder. The head is relatively small and the snout is short.
The paws are very large in relation to the body and are covered by a pad of hair on the soles. These pads act like snowshoes: they increase the surface area of the paws so that the weight is better distributed and the animals do not sink into the snow. In addition, the soles of the feet are well protected from the cold.
Like lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards, snow leopards are big cats, but they differ in some characteristics. Unlike these, snow leopards cannot roar. They eat by crouching down like a house cat. The others, on the other hand, eat while lying down. The snow leopard’s snout is much shorter and the skull higher than that of its larger relatives.
Where do snow leopards live?
Snow leopards live in the high mountains of Central Asia. Their distribution area extends in the south from the Himalayas in Nepal and India to the Russian Altai and Sanjan mountains in the north.
From east to west their home ranges from the highlands of Tibet to the Pamir and Hindu Kush in the west. Most of their homeland is in Tibet and China. Snow leopards live in mountain regions up to 6000 meters altitude. Their habitat consists of steep rocky regions, mountain steppes, scrubland, and light coniferous forests. In summer, the animals live at altitudes of 4000 to 6000 meters, in winter they migrate down to regions at 2000 to 2500 meters.
What types of snow leopards are there?
The cat family consists of big and small cats. The snow leopard, also known as the iris, belongs to the genus of big cats and is related to the leopard, the lion, the jaguar, and the tiger.
How old do snow leopards get?
In captivity, snow leopards live an average of 14 years, with a maximum age of 21 years. How long they live in the wild is not known.
Behave
How does the snow leopard live?
For a long time, snow leopards were thought to be nocturnal animals. Today we know that they are also active during the day and especially at dusk. What is certain is that they prefer to roam alone and avoid their peers. Since there are only a few prey animals in their habitat, they sometimes live in very large territories. These can measure between 40 and 1000 square kilometers.
The ranges of males and females can overlap. The snow leopards mark frequently used paths with droppings, a scent secretion, and scratch marks. To rest, snow leopards retreat to sheltered rock caves where they are sheltered from the wind and cold.
Snow leopards are perfectly adapted to life in extreme cold: their fur is very dense and sometimes consists of 4000 hairs per square centimeter. In winter it grows up to five centimeters long on the back and up to twelve centimeters long on the stomach. The snow leopard’s nasal cavity is enlarged so that the cold air it breathes can warm up better. When they sleep, they tuck their thick tails over their noses, protecting them from the freezing cold.
Friends and foes of the snow leopard
Snow leopards hardly have any natural enemies, their biggest enemy is humans. Despite being protected, they are still hunted for their fur. Because they sometimes attack grazing cattle, they are often pursued by the ranchers.
How do snow leopards reproduce?
Males and females only meet during the mating season between January and March. Then they draw attention to themselves with mating calls in the form of a long-drawn-out howl. The females give birth to two to three young about every two years after a gestation period of 94 to 103 days between April and June.
The babies are born in the shelter of a rock cave lined with the mother’s hair. The little ones are dark-haired and blind at birth. They weigh just 450 grams. They open their eyes about a week after birth. The mother nurses her young for two months, after which the offspring will switch to solid food and follow the mother on her forays.
Young snow leopards stay with their mother for 18 to 22 months, only then are they completely independent and go their own way. They become sexually mature at the age of two to three years. But they usually only reproduce when they are at least four years old.
How does the snow leopard hunt?
Snow leopards do not pursue their prey over long distances, but rather sneak up on the animals or ambush them. Then they leap at the prey with a leap of up to 16 meters – this makes them the world champions in the long jump among mammals. They usually kill their victims with a bite in the throat or neck.
How do snow leopards communicate?
Unlike other big cats, snow leopards cannot roar. They just purr and howl like our house cats.