International Snow Leopard Day

1. There is one species of snow leopard, but then there are three subspecies. The Northern group, Western group and Central group. This as the names suggest, is mainly based on where they are found living in the wild.

2. Snow leopards live in cold mountain habitats in Asia and can even be found in the Himalayas. They can be found living in countries such as China, India and Russia.

3. Snow leopards are well suited to their environment. They have spotted white, greyish fur that keeps them warm but also helps them camouflage in their snowy rocky habitat.

4. They have big paws that can act like snow shoes helping them to walk easily in snowy conditions.

5. A snow leopards tail is thick and fluffy and can be about a metre long. It is the longest tail of all the ‘big cats’. They can wrap their tail around their body when resting to stay warm.

6. Despite their name being snow leopard, they are more closely related to tigers than leopards!

7. Snow leopards prefer to live by themselves and not with other snow leopards. But cubs do live with their mothers and are very well cared for until they are old enough to go off on their own.

8. Like many ‘big cats’ snow leopards can’t roar. They are loud though and make more of a ‘yowl’ noise instead. They can however purr.

9. Snow leopards are carnivores and can catch prey that is quite big, allowing them to feed off them for many days. They like to eat things such as sheep and goats. They will hunt for their prey at dawn or dusk when they are most active.

10. Snow leopards are known to walk huge distances. They are also very good at jumping, jumping distances up to 15 metres. They can even jump straight up into the tops of  trees.