Imminent Danger Lurks for the Snow Leopard
Snow leopards live in rugged mountains primarily in Central Asia. Their range extends through 12 countries including China, India and North Korea. This endangered species is found in remote areas—much of which is along international boundaries protected against public access, as they are sensitive boundaries between countries. What makes them unique is they prefer to live up high—3,000 to 5,400 meters above sea level where it is cold and dry. The mountain slopes are sparsely vegetated with grasses and small shrubs. They can manage the steep, broken terrain of cliffs, rocky outcrops, and ravines. These features provide good cover and clear views to help them sneak up on prey. The only thing missing in this scene sounds like carabiners and climbing rope!
Each individual snow leopard inhabits a defined home range. However, these home ranges overlap and snow leopards do not defend them the way more aggressively territorial species do. Each individual will live and hunt a defined home range. A home range with little prey may encompass over 1,000 kilometers! China contains as much as 60% of their habitat. The cats have already disappeared from some areas where they formerly lived, such as parts of Mongolia.
Snow leopards cannot roar like other large cats. They can growl and yowl; and make a non-aggressive puffing sound called prusten through their nostrils. Communication with each other is usually done from a distance. They mark territory in a variety of ways usually along topographic features that signals other cats to stay out of their territory. This can prevent aggressive confrontation and injury. Seems civil doesn’t it? Cubs are usually born in June or July with only 3 cubs per litter at most.
This cat doesn’t weigh very much and its short forelimbs and long hind limbs give it agility. Jumping confidently onto narrow ledges and barreling down steep slopes is all in a day's hunt for snow leopards. Their powerful hind limbs to help them leap 30 feet—6 times its body length! Their well-developed chest muscles help it climb steep slopes. Here’s the charming part…their very long and thick and furry tail. Its length helps it balance while leaping. At the tip of its tail, especially, is a lot of hair to protect against frostbite. They sometimes wrap their tail around their body and face, like a cozy muff, when resting. Awwww, cute! Their enlarged nasal cavity is built to warm the frigid air they breathe before it gets to the tissues inside the lungs. Their dense and woolly hair is up to 5” long on their belly. It’s a smoky gray color with dark gray to black rosettes for camouflage. This makes them appear quite different from other leopards because they are not golden all. Last, those paws of theirs are very large—like snowshoes. So, I imagine they leave a pretty ominous-looking paw print in the snow!
Chase Caught on Film
There has never been a verified Snow leopard attack on a human being, proving that they are not at all aggressive towards people. Even if disturbed on a kill, it is much more likely to run away than try to defend the kill. The reverse is not true with people, however, who poach these beautiful creatures for their pelts, which are sought after in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Russia for coats and other garments. Traditional Asian medicine also values their bones and other body parts. Poaching can be a lucrative source of extra income for locals to feed their families, who typically survive on just a few dollars a day. Snow leopards’ survival depends on the prey they find in an area where they’ll usually stay for several days then move into a neighboring area in search of fresh prey. They’ve been known to cross over 25 miles of desert (in one night that is) between mountain slopes. It is a powerful hunter who may kill prey 3X its own weight such as wild sheep, goats, young yaks or horses. Usually they will eat slowly taking 3-4 days to consume a large animal. During summer especially they will also get marmots, pikas and hares. Surprisingly, they also consume notable amounts of plant material during mating season.
See a fabulous and first-time-ever-recorded hunt of one of these leopards in the Himalayas on the mother of all nature series—Planet Earth—that was televised to rave reviews on the Discovery Channel; now out on HD DVD, a 5-disc set in standard DVD format and Blu-ray discs.
Allure of the Amur Leopard
Inhabiting forests of cedar or conifer (or haunting them if a large predator scares you just a little) is the Amur leopard. It shares the same habitat as the Siberian tiger and the same issue of an alarming decline in numbers. It’s beautiful coat, and even its bones, are valued by poachers. Local farmers burn fires to clear their land but the fires spread into the forests destroying the leopard’s home and prey. Fortunately they do breed well in captivity; but the leopards held by zoos today are usually not purebred, so the current breeding stock is not sufficient. For this reason it is important that wild leopards reproduce or be captured for breeding in zoos. The World Wildlife Fund said that as of April 2007 the count of Amur leopards remaining wild numbered only 24 to 33. The number in captivity is now greater than those in the wild. This animal is now regarded as the world’s most rare cat and is facing extinction in the wild!
The leopard population in North Korea and China is already lost. Now, Russia has begun building the world’s longest pipeline (over 4,000 km) bringing oil through eastern Siberia to a new terminal on the Pacific coast. Completion of the first stage is expected in 2008. This pipeline will pass through the leopards' only remaining range; and conservationists working with the Zoological Society of London say it could be the last straw. They are appealing to the Russian government to re-route the pipeline for environmental considerations. People often confuse jaquars with leopards, but I’ll point out their differences so you’ll be in the know. The Amur leopard weighs in at a slim 62-198 lbs in contrast to some male Jaguars who reach 300 lbs. with a naturally stockier build. The Jaguars’ spots are larger too with spots inside their spots if you follow me. After all this talk I think I am starting to see spots!Of all the leopard subspecies this one wears the best coat. It is reddish-yellow in summer becoming pale cream in winter. In wintertime and during cold weather conditions its coat grows longer. In this regard it is somewhat reminiscent of the Snow leopard since they both have coats adapted to cold temperatures. But the Amur leopard’s vibrant color makes it stand out from the coloring of the Snow leopard resembling the rocky backdrop it occupies.
Across the Amur leopards’ back are widely spaced rosettes, which are darker in the center with thick borders. On its head the spots get smaller. Its legs are the longest of all leopards, presumably to enable it to walk in snow. Its prey animals are mainly hares, roe and sika deer, badgers and raccoon dogs. Sika deer are small elk about 2 ½ feet high at the shoulders. If you’ve read this far you probably have an instinct to feed your need for footage sensitive to the lives of animals and beauty of nature. I’ve got just the thing—Planet Earth. This collection of discs in Blu-ray, HD DVD or on standard DVD’s is truly awesome, especially when seen in high-def I’m told! Also, another Emmy winner coming out soon is The Blue Planet DVD set. I’m going to warm up my living room tv now!