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A special look at the snow leopard

By Domenic Marinelli

WROCLAW, POLAND - JULY 24: A vulnerable newborn snow leopard, 2-months-old, plays with her sister and their mother Natasja, 7-years-old, in their enclosure at Wroclaw Zoo, Wroclaw, Poland on July 24, 2023. It is estimated that the global population of snow leopards is about 4-7 thousand individuals, and has declined by at least 20% over the past two decades due to habitat loss, loss of food base, poaching and persecution. The species was listed as in dangerous, but to the education and breeding programs by zoos, it is now listed as vulnerable. (Photo by Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
WROCLAW, POLAND - JULY 24: A vulnerable newborn snow leopard, 2-months-old, plays with her sister and their mother Natasja, 7-years-old, in their enclosure at Wroclaw Zoo, Wroclaw, Poland on July 24, 2023. It is estimated that the global population of snow leopards is about 4-7 thousand individuals, and has declined by at least 20% over the past two decades due to habitat loss, loss of food base, poaching and persecution. The species was listed as in dangerous, but to the education and breeding programs by zoos, it is now listed as vulnerable. (Photo by Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /
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The snow leopard is often overlooked as one of the main wildcats the world over, but this wild cat reigns supreme in the snowy high mountains, and all without a single roar.

They’re known as leopards, yes, but they are far more closely related to tigers. And it is true, they are incapable of roaring, as stated above. So how do they reign supreme in the cold conditions of the high mountains?

Keep reading to find out more about the beautiful and intriguing snow leopard …

Well, according to wwf.org.uk, their paws are huge factors for being able to get around the snow so easily. For those of us in Canada, we’re not really strangers to snow shoeing—that also goes for northern parts of the US.

According to the aforementioned source, their huge paws do the same thing that a snow shoe does, which is aid in allowing for easier tracking through snowy fields. Essentially the larger the circumference of a shoe, or say paw, in the snow leopard’s case, the less likely one is to sink through the snow.

Also of note is their stamina. These mighty creatures can actually travel long distances—up to 25 miles in one night!

According to Wikipedia, the snow leopard, or Panthera uncia, is said to have come from the northern Central Asia. Essentially these are still its stomping grounds, specifically central and south Asia, as per the aforementioned source.

According to Britannica.com, snow leopards kind of stepped away from their ancestral tigers about 3.2 million years ago, essentially going off to do their own thing, becoming the fierce hunters of the snowy mountains high, and for all that time.

For years it was thought that the population of snow leopards was in danger, but that was reclassified as ‘vulnerable’ after errors in calculations were discovered, but despite the positive news in that department overall, the breed still face many dangers and threats to its survival overall.

They are expert hunters and hunters that bear the name extremely well, as a recent story that broke shows…

It was shortly after I received this assignment that this story broke about a snow leopard that quite literally speared a snow sheep off a cliff, proceeded to fall 400 feet without releasing its grip on the sheep—a firm grip it held with its jaws, by the way—and it then actually walked away from the whole ordeal without getting injured—the snow leopard that is.

The narration provided in the piece posted over at whiskeyriff.com accompanying the article, states that this is example of how adapted the show leopard is to living in the cold conditions of the mountain ranges and everything that comes along with that habitat.

dark. Next. Ever heard of a bush dog?

Now how’s that for becoming a master of your own domain, dear readers?  

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