Come and let’s have a crack at some of the most surprising snow leopards facts that you may have heard once in a while. With a magnificent blend of heavy fleece, marked with lovely brown and black combination of loops, snow leopards are worth watching wild cats. These spots are designed for good reason as they put the predator out of sight from its target. Since their body has a thick layer of fur that extends to its tail as well, so the frosty weather conditions does not harm them.
They are found in the mountainous parts of Central Asia like India, China, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Nepal with several species located in the Indian States of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Eastern Himalaya, Uttarakhand Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Hence snow leopards fancy living at almost 5,000 meters above sea level and bumps off their predator from the craggy lands of Himalayas. Like its counterparts, snow leopard is also nocturnal and likes to hunt alone in the dark.
However, the dark side of this striking animal is that it is now listed within endangered species by the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN). Under the CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species), nobody can do business on these species since they are recorded in the Appendix 1 of this agreement.
Top 14 Most Amazing Snow Leopards Facts
- The tail of snow leopard is unusually big (almost 100cm) and is unlike the usual wild cats. Its primary purpose is to balance the animal while strolling in jagged mountains but when the temperature goes unpleasantly cold, this tail also helps the animal to cover up its mouth and nose as well.
- Unlike female snow leopards, the skull of male cats is more four-sided and broader than his counterparts.
- During fall, the animal often ascends even higher so much so that he reaches at almost 17,000 feet. Likewise in chilly temperatures of winter, he drops away to 5,800 feet.
- It’s a mystery animal that lives high in the mountains that’s why very few scientists have actually witnessed snow leopards in the wild. Given uncompromising chilly temperatures of Himalayas and other mountains of Central Asia, it’s almost out of the question to delve into the behavior of this animal. Hence, scientists are still having a bash at discovering new techniques that could help them study snow leopards in the wild.
- With a misty shade of this animal that is perfectly hidden under the snowy climates, snow leopard is sometimes known as a ‘ghost cat’.
- As the cubs reach 7 days, their blindness ends and they open their eyes.
- Snow leopard leaps very high at almost 50 feet high above the ground.
- Do you know there are less than 6,000 snow leopards in the wild and almost 600 to 700 animals in zoos?
- One of the interesting snow leopards facts is that they do not go under the surface of heavy snow thanks to their big paws that works like snowshoes. Besides, these paws also come in handy as temperature reaches below freezing level and keep the animal from frozen weather.
- China enjoys 60% share of snow leopard habitat.
- Snow leopards have become extinct from Mongolia.
- Unlike other wild cats, snow leopards have fair green or smoky eyes.
- One of the amazing snow leopards facts is that this animal is capable of killing its victim which may even be 4 times the size of the leopard itself.
- The number of snow leopards has gone down by almost 20% within the last 16 years or so and which enables IUCN to declare it an endangered species ever since 1972.
Fast Snow Leopards Facts
Scientific Name: Uncia uncia
Family: Felidae
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Weight: 25 – 75 kilograms
Length: 75 – 130 centimeters
Average Life span: 15 – 18 years (wild), 21 years (captivity)
Status: Endangered
Predators: Shepherds (Humans)
Diet: Carrion, woolly hares, snow cock, wild boars, domestic livestock, argali, Himalayan blue colored sheep called Bharals, markhors, urials, Siberian ibex, marmots, rodents, chukar, langur monkeys, pikas, chukar, Himalayan tahr, goat-shaped ruminants and gorals.
Maximum Speed: 55 Mph
Tidbits On Snow Leopards Facts
July 18, 2012 | (Afghanistan) In the hope of pressing forward for safeguarding snow leopards from extinction, the environmentalists installed satellite collars for the first time ever to snow leopards in Afghanistan. Ever since this animal was left, it has by now traveled over 100 miles.
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