The snow leopard is an animal that symbolizes strength, power and nobility. Its habitat is highlands. This is the only feline that spends its entire life high in the mountains and rarely descends to the plains. Irbis lives in 13 states located in Central Asia, this number includes Russia. The largest number of animals is located in China, in our country there are only about 150-250 individuals.
In its appearance and color, it is very similar to a leopard, but still smaller in size. And the snow leopard is stronger. This predator is familiar to Russia, because it is found in Khakassia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Altai Republic, Tyva and other mountainous regions. Of the entire cat family, snow leopards are considered the most evil, ferocious and merciless predators. Their fur is highly valued, for one skin on the black market you can get up to 60 thousand dollars, because there are very few snow leopards left. In all countries where they live, animals are listed in the Red Book.
The color of the coat is light gray with dark spots, which allows the leopard to perfectlycamouflage among stones and snow. In some ways, snow leopards are similar to jaguars. The weight of an adult can reach 100 kg, the coat is very thick, the tail is long and fluffy, it helps the animal to keep balance while climbing the rocks. The snow leopard is an excellent hunter, the length of its jumps reaches 15 meters. Jumping from a height, he tries to fill up the victim and immediately kill her. An adult snow leopard can easily deal with a deer, the weight of which will be 2-3 times its own.
The snow leopard is a very cautious animal, which is why so few people have seen it in its natural habitat. Only footprints left in the snow speak of his presence. Irbis prefers to live alone, the territory for hunting is strictly limited, and not a single animal goes beyond its limits. A snow leopard at the end of summer and autumn can hunt in a group of 2-3 individuals - this is a female with cubs.
The main prey of snow leopards are ungulates: wild boars, mountain goats, deer, rams, roe deer. If it is difficult to find prey, then they can eat ground squirrels, birds, pikas. In summer, leopards eat grass in addition to meat. Most large cats emit a calling roar, with the help of which they communicate with relatives, but leopards purr like pets. During the rutting season, they meow bass.
Babies are born weighing half a kilogram and 30 cm long. The first week they are blind and completely helpless, but then they begin to see. In its natural habitat, the snow leopard lives up to 13 years, but in captivity it can live for 7 years.years longer. There is a known case when one female lived to be 28 years old.
In the 60s of the last century, the number of snow leopards was minimal. Poachers killed hundreds of animals and sold their skins on the black market. Then the governments of all the states where they live decided to ban the hunting of the snow leopard. Today it is under protection, but poaching still threatens its population. The number of animals has increased significantly compared to previous decades. There are about 7000 snow leopards in nature, and about 2000 in captivity. The snow leopard is a symbol of many Asian cities, it is depicted on the coat of arms of the city of Alma-Ata, as well as Tatarstan and Khakassia.
