Joshua Lee Lee 1

Ms. Moss

English 10 Pre-AP H

7 March 2018

Snow Leopards

Through the pure white snowy mountains of Central Asia, a thick, whitish gray, black

spotted coat is easily seen camouflaging in the snow. The evening dusk, of the summer helps the

Leopard not be seen The Snow Leopard spots its prey through the broken terrain to conceal its

approach. One paw at a time the Leopard stalks its prey silently. Any the smallest sound will

alert the Himalayan blue sheep and it will run off. Only the sound of the wind can be heard,

when the Leopard inches it’s way to the blue sheep. The Snow leopard is now 6-7 feet away

from the sheep. Using the momentum of its leap, it chases pursues the victile. The sheep tries run

away but it is no match for the speedy Leopard. It’s wide paws let’s the leopard run on top of the

snow with ease. It catches up with the sheep, pounces then clamps down. A clean bite to the

neck, suffocates the Himalayan sheep. Once it’s dead, it’s drags the prey to a safe location before

feeding. The snow leopard turns its head side to side for safety to look for predators and

scavengers , then feasts on the carcass of its kill.

The Snow Leopard, also known as Panthera uncia, is one of the top endangered animals

in the world. These stealthy cats are found in the rugged mountains of Central Asia. The

Panthera uncia was discovered in 1775, and since its discovery it has switched classes. It was

initially classified as a monotypic uncia, but since 2008 it was changed to Panthera uncia because

of its genetic differences(Snow Leopard).

Lee 2
 The Snow Leopard is known for its thick, whitish gray, black spotted coat. This thick fur

coat helps the leopard keep warm from the snowy climate in Central Asia. The Panthera uncias

belly coat is whitish. The thick fur hairs are near close to 5 and 12 cm long. The body of this

leopard is heavily built, short-legged and a bit smaller than the other cats of its species, which is

the genus Panthera. It reaches a height of 56 centimeters or 22 inches. The length of the Leopard

from head to body ranges from 30 to 59 in. Its tail is 31 to 41 inches long which is long for a cat.

Its eye color is grey or pale green in color. Its snout is small/short and its head circled and a bit

domed. Its paws space the body weight for walking

on

snow so it can easily travel. The Leopard

has fur on their bottoms/feet to grip on to rigid,

steep, and unstable surfaces. This thick fur coat

allows the Leopard to store its heat and avoid heat

loss. Its long and flexible tail helps to maintain

balance in the rocky terrain. The tail thick with (Leopard Characteristics)

fat because it stores its fat storage there. The leopard has a thick fur coat, which allows the cat to

protect its face when it is sleeping and also as a blanket. What separates this cat from others is

that it is unable to roar. Instead, Snow leopards hiss, chuff, meows, growls, and wails(Leopard

Facts).

This big cat hunts its prey down, which makes this animal a carnivore. Snow leopards

will eat anything they come across. Their opportunistic behaviour always it to feed on anything.
This powerful leopard can kill animals big animals such as as Himalayan blue sheep, Himalayan

tahr. This is almost 3-4 times its whole mass/size!

It also preys on small such as marmot, pika and vole species. Snow leopards uses the

broken terrain to hide their approach so they can ambush the prey from above. Using the

momentum of their leap, they chase down all of their prey in order to capture food. When killing

their new caught prey, they use their strong jaws to bite down on the neck causing

suffocation.Before they feed, they look around for any dangers or predator so that their food

won't get stolen. It takes about a week or two for them to feed again. Eating all parts of the

carcass, the meal that they ate will last them weeks(Leopard Facts).

An individual snow leopard lives within a certain range, but when encroached upon by

other snow leopards, it does not aggressively defend it.The size of their territory varys on

different genders. In a study from 2008 to 2014, indicates that male snow leopards require more

land/territory than females. The male's territory can exceed to around 83 square miles which is

significantly larger than the 49 square miles of territory that females need. Like other cats from

the same species, snow leopards use their sense of smell to indicate scent marks which tell the

leopard the territories and common travel routes.The leopards often leave either the following:

scratch marks, urine, or feces. Alexander Karnaukhov, a biologist and snow leopard specialist

with the World Wildlife Fund Russia states “They also sometimes spray urine onto sheltered

patches of rock. Here you can see the small scratch marks of the snow leopard. This is how he

makes it clear to other snow leopard that he lives here”(Stunning Leopards).

Snow leopards usually mate in late winter in order to produce offspring. These big cats have a

birth peak with is not unusual among large cats. It is easy to tell when they are mating because

you'll hear and see an increase in marking and calling. Snow leopards are born between early
Spring to late Summer. Their pregnancies last about 90-100 days and it is hard because the

mating season is so short.

The mother of the cubs gives birth in a rocky den under the snow. Her fur is laced from

her underside to keep her cubs warm and safe. Each one of her cubs weigh to about 2.3 pounds

and she can have a litter up to one to five. When the cubs are born they are nearly blind but they

already have their beautiful silky coat. In about seven days their eyes begin to open and at 10

weeks they are fully capable to do almost anything. The cubs leave their safe den when they are

3 to 5 months of age, but remains with its mother until they become ready to be set off in the

wild. After around 18–22 months they will be ready. Once independent, they disperse over

various distances, crossing wide flat terrain to seek out new hunting grounds. Snow leopards

become sexually mature or ready to mate at 3 to 4 years. Their average life span is about

normally for 15–18 years, until the cycle continues(Leopard Endangered).

Snow leopards are most active at dawn and

dusk which means that they are crepuscular. They

are known for being extremely secretive, silent,

stealthy, and well camouflaged.

The most major threat on decreasing leopard

population is poaching and the illegal trade of body

parts and skins/furs (mating seasons for leopards). These cats are poached an average of 450 a

year. Poaching leads to population decline and is the reason why the snow leopard is on the

vulnerable list. Conflict with people also cause is population decline. Because their natural prey

are also in decline, snow leopards sometimes eat local livestock, which can result in the farmers
killing them. This is now one of the most biggest threats to snow leopards. The killing/poaching

of this animal is the reason why it is on the vulnerability list.

Hussain says “so the way to enable snow leopards to survive, is not to create protected

areas that sequester them from local communities. That solution often alienates farmers, who

lose their grazing areas as a result”(Endangered Leopards). Instead of helping the snow leopards,

Hussain continues to support the local herders. He does this so that the herders can make a living

despite the leopard interferences. Hussain has found a project called, the Snow Leopard project,

which insures helps local farmers if/when livestock are killed(Snow Leopard).

This project has shown to be successful in which various branches of this project,

managed to open up to 400 households for about 3,000 animals in Central Asia. Since 1997,

close to $7,000 have been paid in order to compensate for the lost animals. $13,000 have been

invested on improving livestock habitats and fences so that the leopards wont eat the livestock.

“Because of this,the snow leopard population seems to have remained stable, if not grown,”

Hussain said. If this plan doesn't work it wont make the officials hesitate. Another plan of this

project shows to secure 20 natural snow leopard landscapes by 2020. Each landscape would

would be able to hold at least half of the cats populations, which is about 2,000s. Over the years

the population should increase so that the unique snow leopard won't be on the vulnerability list.

The landscapes that they will be creating for these animals will also support prey populations and

will be connected to other various leopard sanctuaries. These habitats would be protected by

signs and officials which will open up jobs for officers. Although this is a great and effective

way to increase the leopard population it does come with a hefty price. The total amount would

cost about a whopping $190 million dollars. This number is in fact very big but it is nothing

compared to the amount we pay to insure that our ecosystem, etc will be safe for us humans,
plants, and animals. An example of this is little more than a quarter of the earth's population

relies on the vast Central Asian mountains for their daily drinking water. This resource is nearly

impossible to put a price tag on. (Stunning Leopard).

The Snow Leopard is a cute, but fierce animal. These precious animals are decreasing in

population because of illegal hunting. From North to Central Asia conservation groups are

working hard to protect these big cats from going extinct. Donating money and signing petitions

for raising a safe environment for these leopards will surely help this animal to live safely and

peace. Ensuring this, it will help the Pancia Uncia to live in longevity for the generations to

come.

(snow leopard)

Works Cited

Gaworecki, Mike. “Snow Leopards No Longer 'Endangered,' but Still in Decline and in

Need of Urgent Conservation Measures.” Conservation News, 29 Sept. 2017,

news.mongabay.com/2017/09/snow-leopards-no-longer-endangered-but-still-in-decline-

and-in-need-of-urgent-conservation-measures/.
 Harvey, Martin. “Snow Leopard.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund,

www.worldwildlife.org/species/snow-leopard.

“Snow Leopard Facts.” Snow Leopard Trust, www.snowleopard.org/snow-leopard-facts/.

“Snow Leopard.” Edited by Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Britannica,

www.britannica.com/animal/snow-leopard.

Wendle, John. “Stunning Rare Footage Reveals Elusive Snow Leopards.” National Geographic

, 6 Apr. 2017, news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/snow-leopards-russia-camera-traps-

wildlife-conservation/.