World Wildlife Fund supports research and habitat conservation projects for the snow leopard in many parts of its range. WWF is also working to put a stop to the illegal traffic in endangered cat skins, and to create and maintain reserves to protect them and other endangered species. With your help, we can save the snow leopard from an uncertain future.

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Snow Leopard (Asia)
Snow leopards Inhabit the alpine and subalpine zones of Asia from Afghanistan to Tibet. These nocturnal predators can jump as far as 50 feet in a single bound. The snow leopard is hunted for its attractive coat. It's primary threat, however, is the expansion of human activities into its habitat.
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Sid J.

leopard in the wild.The first ever close-up pictures taken by humans were made by t.v show planet earth, although,to this day, very few people have had the privilege of seeing a snow leopard in its native habitat, much less taking its picture. The snow leopards seem to like it that way -- they avoid humans with amazing skill. Their fur contains swirls of gray and black, much like the colors of the rocky outcrops where they live. This coloration provides such good camouflage that a snow leopard can seem to disappear just by staying still.

edit] Where do snow leopards live?

Places colored green are where snow leopards live

Snow leopards live in the high mountains of China and Central Asia, particularly throughout the Himalayas. They typically have a hunting range or territory of 100 square miles (260 square km), because very few prey animals live in the harsh, mountain habitat that is home to the snow leopard.

edit] What do snow leopards look like?

Note the intense gaze

Snow leopards have grey-and-white fur with long tails and rosettes on the flanks and spots on the head and neck, like jaguars. This color resembles the rocks and snow of their environment and helps them stalk their prey. Their tails are unusually long, thickly furred, and striped. Their paws are covered in fur to keep them warm and to act like snowshoes. During blizzards, they wrap their tail around their face, using it like a muff, to keep warm. Their eyes are round in shape, ranging from pale yellow to green-grey in colour. Male snow leopards weigh between 90-115 pounds (40-52 kg), and females weigh between 75-90 pounds (34-40 kg).

edit] What do snow leopards eat, and how do they catch their prey?

Snow leopards are masters of vertical space

Snow leopards eat almost anything they can catch, often hunting animals three times their size. Their main sources of food include wild sheep and goats, pikas, hares, and game birds. In the summer, they eat mostly smaller prey, such as marmots. At other times their prey includes wild boars, gazelles, markhor, bobak, tahr, ibex, bharal, mice, and deer. They stalk their prey and usually begin their attack when they are 20 to 50 feet (6-15 m) away.

The snow leopard's broad paws act as snow shoes and give them traction as they chase their prey across stone, snow, and icy surfaces. They are at their best when they can run across the hard, icy crusts that form above  [report anonymous abuse]

banks of deep snow while their hooved prey breaks through the crust, getting mired in the soft 

Sid J.
 

What a beautiful animal.

Snow leopards are my favorite.

I can't believe such a beautiful animal is endanger of extinction

Johnny S.

Milena's mate, 'Dende'.

The pair are to be introduced late this year, or early next year.

Snow Leopard Photo Gallery: Go >>

The snow leopard, which roams the craggy, snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas, is so elusive that it verges on legendary.

In parts of the Himalaya, the big cats have a near-mythical status comparable with the yeti, or abominable snowman. The fascination was heightened even further after Peter Matthiessen recounted his 1973 search for the magnificent creature in The Snow Leopard.

Now, scientists have captured the mysterious animals on film using novel remote camera technology.

The rare photos of the big cat in its native habitat were released today under a project undertaken by the Royal Geographic Society and supported by several other groups.

It was the best attempt to photograph them in this way to date, said Ashley Spearing, a researcher who led the expedition that tracked down the animals and caught them in action high in the Trans-Himalaya region of India. "It's also very encouraging that we now have a really powerful tool to study them," he added.

The project organizers think the experimental filming technique could help researchers determine the size of populations in the wild, thereby aiding conservation efforts.

It's been estimated that no more than 7,000 snow leopards exist in their 2.3-million-square kilometer range in Central Asia, and it's thought that this number is declining rapidly. Getting more accurate estimates has been difficult because the animals are so difficult to find and track.

Their habitat is shrinking, and only 6 percent are believed to reside in protected areas.

According to experts at the Royal Geographical Society, Himalayan herders often kill snow leopards when they attempt to attack livestock in the dark of night. The big cats are also hunted for their thick, white coats and their bones, which are sought as a substitute for tiger bones in some Chinese folk medicines.

Spearing and others hope to conduct further research in the region. One aim is to learn whether the density of the markers snow leopards leave in their habitat—scrapes, pug marks, scats, and scent sprays—can serve to indicate changes in the size of snow leopard populations.

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 Morris S.

Thankyou Morris for the amazing photos...

Astrid D.

Here's a link to a video of a snow leopard,enjoy!

http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Uncia_uncia/Uncia_uncia_06.html?movietype=rpMed

 Erika S.

Though the Snow leopards habitat extends into 12 countries, only 3,000 to 6,000 remain today in the wild. Snow leopards habitat is in central and south Asia, a rugged mountainous region, extends through Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Prey: main prey is that of wild sheep such as Bharal (Blue Sheep) and Argali, goats, including Markhor and Ibex. Other prey taken includes Musk Deer, marmots, various species of hare and birds, it is common, during the harsh winter months for the cat to take domestic livestock.
Thankyou Erika for the Info and photos...   

 Sagrada M.                       My Favorite Cat.

  One of my favourites as well.

Lee K.

Erika S.

Thank you all for your beautiful pictures!

 Snow Leopard Cub

I found this photo back,it was here,but dissapeared a while ago,I guess this time it wont,because I posted it in another way,enjoy the photos!

Thank you all for your posted articles and/or photos!

Monday, 2:30 PM

 

Sid J.
 

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Erika S.

Group History

Simone D.

Morris,Johnny,Lee and Sagrada: if you want people to send you a star for contributing here,then please repost,I havent been able to find a profile picture with "send a green star"possibility of you all,sorry ! Greetings from Astrid.

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Here is a link to a hunting snow leopard,enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpbIjUKt6wY

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About the conference in Beijing concerning the conservation of Snow Leopards.

http://www.panthera-foundation.org/documents/BeijingConferencePR.pdf