Happy International Snow Leopard Day! ❄️ Ft. Law helping a snow leopard cub with a minor arm injury.
-> for some snow leopard facts, click the readmore!
Snow leopards are sometimes referred to “ghosts of the mountains” for their elusiveness and solitary nature.
They are found in the icy mountainous regions of Central Asia (i.e Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, etc.), South Asia (i.e. Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, etc.), Russia, Mongolia, and China.
In northern Dolpo Nepalese folklore, it is sometimes believed that snow leopards carry the sins of their past lives & whoever kills them “inherits” their sins.
Often opportunistic hunters and less aggressive compared to other big cats when it comes to hunting their prey, as they will retreat from a kill if another predator threatens them. However, they are able to kill prey 3 times their own weight.
They’re more related to tigers than leopards.
They can jump 6 times their body length.
They typically have blue, green, or grey eyes & can see 6 times better than humans.
Their short nasal cavity warms the air they inhale before entering their lungs.
Their tails can serve as scarves & they sometimes like to nom on them.
-> Visit Snow Leopard Trust to learn more about snow leopards & conservation efforts, as there is less than around 10,000 in the wild!
Beautiful photo of a Snow Leopard cub in the mountains of Mongolia.
📸 Photo by @siberianart
🐆 Follow for more 🐅 @bigcatswildlife
Did you know? A female Snow Leopard will be ready to have cubs of their own when they are two or three years old – quite soon after they leave their family behind, they’ll start their own.
"If you’ve had a chance to stop by to see our snow leopard cubs in action, you’ve probably noticed a lot of leaping!
With their shorter front legs and longer back legs, snow leopards are skilled climbers and jumpers, able to leap from rock to rock both horizontally and vertically. Their tails help them balance and their extra-large, fur-covered paws distribute their weight on rocks as well as snow-covered slopes. As you can see, the cubs are getting lots of practice!"