- Status: Endangered
- Description: Soft grey coat, white on belly. Head and limbs are marked with solid black or brown spots; body is covered with brown blotches ringed with black, and a black streak runs down the back. Tail is heavy with fur and the bottom of the paws are covered with fur -- for protection against snow and cold. The winter coat is lighter in color.
- Size: Head and body length is 47-59 inches, while the tail is 31-39 inches long.
- Habitat: Mountain steppes and coniferous (pine/evergreen) forest scrub at high altitudes (5900-18000 feet). Prefer mountain regions in the winter, moving to meadows and rocky areas during the summer months.
- Range: The high mountains of Central Asia, specifically the Himalayas, Altai and Hindu Kush. Jammu & Kashmir is situated in the central region of the Snow Leopard range. Snow leopards have a broad home range covering about 100 square miles because of the lack of abundant prey.
- Food Source: The snow leopard's prey include wild sheep (such as Bharal, the blue sheep), wild boar, gazelles, hares, markhor, bobak, tahr, marmots, mice and deer. They stalk their prey and usually spring from a distance of 20 to 50 feet.
- Behavior: Solitary creatures, only pairing during the breeding season. They do not roar. Snow leaopards are considered nocturnal, but seem to be most active in the early morning and late afternoon. They den in rocky caverns and crevices.
- Reproduction: Breeding season is usually January-May, with gestation lasting 98-103 days. A female will give birth to one to four young in the spring in a rocky shelter lined with her fur. The young open their eyes at 7-9 days, eat solid food at 2 months and follow their mother on hunts at three months. Cubs remain with the mother through their first winter.
- Population: Extremely rare in most of their range due to the demand for skins. Although trade in snow leopard furs is illegal, it continues, threatening the snow leopard's existence. An estimated 3,000-10,000 are left in the wild, and about 370 are in captivity.
- Longevity: Snow leopards have lived up to 15 years in captivity.
- Survival Threats: Poaching for the fur trade, loss of habitat caused by deforestation and dam projects, and loss of food sources caused by similar environmental pressures.
- Legal Protection: CITES, Appendix I, Endangered Species Act.
- Conservation: Habitat protection, captive breeding, stiff penalties for poachers and international buyers of illegal furs, and public education.
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