Irbis, snow leopard. Snow leopard (Irbis) How the snow leopard hunts

Meeting these legendary animals in the wild is not an easy task, because snow leopards (lat. Uncia uncia), or snow leopards (snow leopards), at the snow-capped peaks of one of the highest mountains in the world - in the Himalayas, Tien Shan, Altai.

The secretive nature and almost mystical ability to dissolve with lightning speed among sharp rocks made the snow leopard a character in the folklore of many Asian peoples, in which it is described as "an elusive spirit of the mountains, capable of taking any form and even becoming invisible."

The SNOW LEOPARD (IRBIS) occupies an intermediate position between large and small cats in a number of ways. The pattern on the head, the manner of holding the tail when the animal is calm, and a number of other anatomical features are related to the big cats of the leopard. But the leopard, like other small cats, can purr; the posture that an animal adopts when eating. Given this similarity with both cats, leopards are sometimes called "medium cats". But in terms of their dimensions, they are in no way inferior to the leopard, a typical representative of the “large”.

Males are usually larger, more massive, stronger than their compatriots. Adult males weigh between 65 and 75 kg. The body length is up to 2.1 m. The tail (3/7 of the total length) is thick, covered with thick hair, which is why it seems that the leopard's tail is thicker than that of leopards. The body is also covered with long hair, in appearance it is dirty - smoky. In order not to freeze among their snows, the leopard had to acquire a thick long undercoat, on top of which there is a long whitish-gray integumentary coat, often marked with a yellowish bloom. In winter, the leopard's coat becomes thicker and acquires a very beautiful color. Even the paw pads are covered with hair, which helps him move through the snow. This beautiful animal is being ruthlessly destroyed because of its beautiful fur, and therefore it is currently on the verge of extinction as a species. The head of the leopard seems small and rather elegant. It is decorated with small, entirely black spots. The spots on the body (up to the hips and tail) are different, they are black-gray or black annular (in this case, the main gray-yellow color dominates in the middle). The underside of the body, as well as the inside of the legs, are painted white. Along the edge of the white fur, the spots are completely black: they are the same on the legs outside (there are, of course, more of them). The pupil is round; vision is sharp, well developed, and other senses serve the leopard perfectly. When this “kitty” feels good at heart, she, like your pets, purrs. He can also growl, like representatives of the famous, royal cats, only the owner of the snow growls softly.

Ibris is found in the mountains of Central Asia: from the Pamirs, Tien Shan, Altai to the Indian states of Kashmir and Sikkim and Southeast Tibet, he usually spends time at an altitude of 2000-3000 meters. In warm weather, it even climbs under the "roof of the world" - 6000 meters, which is only two thousand meters lower than. It lives both in dense thickets of shrubs (rhododendron), and on mountain plains, where there is almost no vegetation. As a dwelling, he chooses crevices of rocks and caves, where he breeds offspring. Here, among the mountain ice and snow, his fur perfectly camouflages him from both enemies and victims.

Although the snow leopard prefers to hunt at dusk, he does not waste time during the day either, during these hours he likes to visit the solarium, that is, to lie down and bask in the sun. The leopard is very attached to his “home”, although, when hunting, he wanders very far from him. He feeds on all mammals living in his patrimony - from mice to mountain goats and rams; sometimes cracks down on yaks. In summer, the leopard goes high into the mountains in search of marmots and other small mammals. At this time, you can also eat wild sheep lambs. This is an easy prey for the leopard. Intense cold and deep snows drive him down into the valleys, where the leopard attacks domestic animals.

The range of the snow leopard in Asia. (Information from the book: O. Loginov, I. Loginova "SNOW LEOPARD. Symbol of the Heavenly Mountains" - Ust-Kamenogorsk, 2009 - 168 pages)

They do not attack a person, but, if it happens, boldly fights off him. However, this is of little help. In pursuit of valuable fur, people can exterminate this beautiful beast, although in India and Central Asia it has long been protected by law. Although what laws are now in the Pamirs?

Pregnancy lasts 90 days. Two or four blind cubs are born, resembling puma babies. In the mountains, their mother hides them in the depths of caves, where neither enemies nor bad weather can harm them. During the first five months, kittens are fed with mother's milk. Sexual maturity is reached in the third year of life (females, apparently, in the second year).

Leopards love to play, love to wallow in the snow. Inflated, they often slide down a steep hill on their backs, and at the bottom they quickly turn over and fall into a snowdrift on all four paws (like children)!!! After playing or hunting, they make themselves comfortable and bask in the sun.

The snow leopard has another common name - the irbis. It has been rooted for a long time. Back in the 17th century, Russian merchants, fur traders, adopted this name from local Asian hunters, many of whom spoke the Turkic dialect. They pronounced this word as "irbiz", which meant "snow cat".

Word "irbis" Russian merchants-furriers took over from Turkic hunters in the 17th century. In Tuva this animal was called irbish, in Semirechye it was called ilbers, east of Alma-Ata in the areas bordering China - irviz. In Turkic - irbiz. This word took root in Russian, only over time the last letter changed from “z” to “s”

In the 18th century, but, obviously, even earlier, in Siberia, and then in Semirechye and Central Asia, the word "leopard", which was called the leopard, in popular use began to be attached to the snow leopard ( Uncia uncia). Because of the similarity of both species, it was quite natural. However, in the fur trade in the 17th century, “irbizas” were also mentioned. In the XIX - early XX centuries in the Russian-language zoological literature for Uncia uncia the name "snow leopard" (identical in meaning to the English, German and French names) and the irbis (from Turkic and Mongolian) became stronger. The term "leopard" itself remained with the leopard ( Panthera pardus)

The first mention and image of an irbis called "Once" was given by Georges Buffon in 1761, which indicated that he lived in Persia and was trained for hunting

The first scientific description of the snow leopard was produced under the name Felis uncia German physician and naturalist Johann Schreber in 1775. Later, in 1830, the species was described by Christian Ehrenberg under the name Felis irbis. In 1855, Thomas Horsfield describes it under the title Felis uncioides

A certain amount of scientific information on the biology and distribution of the snow leopard has been accumulated over a period of approximately two centuries. Many well-known researchers participated in the study of the snow leopard, including Peter Simon Pallas and Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky. At the beginning of the 20th century, information about the species was supplemented by A. Ya. Tugarinov, S. I. Ognev and others. Later, reports by V. G. Geptner and A. A. Sludsky in 1972 became an important step in updating information regarding the snow leopard. Later, some information about the biology of the species was given in the works of L. V. Sopin, M. N. Smirnov, A. K. Fedosenko, V. N. Nikiforov, D. G. Medvedev, G. G. Sobansky, V. A. Shilov , B. V. Shcherbakova, N. P. Malkov, N. S. Sochina and many others.

And it is snowy because the animal lives in the mountains at an altitude of up to 4.5 thousand meters above sea level, where there are snowfields, ice tongues and mountain peaks all around, covered with eternal white caps, where it is very cold and strong icy winds blow. The snow leopard is well adapted to these conditions: it is dressed in a warm coat, the muscles of its paws are very strong - with ease, in one fell swoop, the leopard jumps over a gorge up to 10 meters wide. With one jump, it can deftly overcome a height of 2.5 - 3 meters, as if flying from one ledge to another. He walks without fear along the rocky ledges over the abyss, he can jump from a great height and attack his prey with sniper accuracy. The favorite habitats of the snow leopard are rocky areas of the Mountains, heaps of stones, scree, where there is usually little snow - it is blown away by winds, it is easier to hide from bad weather, find a place for an ambush, and hide from enemies. Here the beast also arranges a lair, choosing a suitable cave, crevice or stone canopy. In these shelters, he spends daylight hours, and with the onset of twilight he goes hunting. He goes boldly, he has no enemies from among the animals, only in winter there can be serious skirmishes with hungry wolves, but the snow leopard can stand up for himself.

How do snow leopards manage to survive in such extreme conditions? To do this, nature endowed them with many unique features. A small head with small rounded ears, wide nostrils that warm the cold rarefied air, a long, very thick and dense coat - all this helps to keep warm where the line of eternal snow begins.

Huge paws with soft pads surrounded by thick warm fur are perfectly adapted for climbing the slippery slopes of mountains and walking in deep, loose snow, while short muscular forelegs and a developed chest help to maintain balance and easily climb even steep slopes. rocks.

A magnificent thick tail, the length of which sometimes exceeds the length of the entire body, performs several useful functions at once - it helps to balance while jumping, serves as a blanket for its owner at night, and also stores fat reserves.

The rugged rocky terrain that snow leopards call home forces them to be excellent jumpers. When hunting prey, these predators are capable of jumping up to 14 meters long! The smoky gray coat with black markings is excellent camouflage for experienced hunters, who are rightly called "ghost cats".

Irbis are real predators, ready to eat any meat that gets in their way. They are not at all embarrassed by the large size of the prey, often three times their own.

The main food of snow leopards is Siberian mountain goats and argali, markhors, deer, and wild boars. Smaller prey include marmots, hares, pikas, and various bird species.

The love of snow leopards for marmots has become one of the reasons for their conflict with humans - in winter, rodents hibernate, and snow leopards are often forced to attack livestock. Snow leopards hunt large prey once every 10-15 days.

Unlike other big cats, snow leopards cannot growl. Their vocal repertoire consists mainly of purring, hissing, meowing, howling and snorting sounds.

In order to somehow indicate their presence for other individuals, snow leopards leave claw marks on large stones or tree trunks, rub their cheeks against them, or mark the territory with urine. All these signs remain for weeks, urging unexpected guests to refrain from encroaching on their territory.

Lifespan:

In nature, no more than 20 years, in captivity up to 28 years.

Habitat:

Animals live alone. The habitats of males may partially overlap with those of 1-3 females.

Threats mind:

• Poaching
• Conflict with interests of pastoralists
• Impoverishment of the food supply
• Habitat destruction
• Low breeding rate

Interesting Facts:

Irbis are very playful, love to wallow in the snow. They often slide down a steep hill on their backs, and at the bottom they quickly turn over and fall into a snowdrift on all four paws. After playing or hunting, they settle down to bask in the sun.

Being in a good mood, the snow leopard purrs just like a domestic cat.

Member of the cat family - This is a majestic and beautiful predator. It has been badly damaged by human activities. It was systematically destroyed because of the valuable fur. At the moment - this animal is listed in the Red Book.

Appearance of the snow leopard

In appearance, the leopard strongly resembles a leopard. The length of the leopard's body reaches a meter, weight is from 20 to 40 kg. The leopard has a very long tail almost the same length as the body. The color of the coat is light gray with dark gray spots, the belly is white.

The animal has very thick and warm fur, which grows even between the fingers to protect the paws from cold and heat.

Snow leopard habitat

The predator lives in the mountains. Prefers the Himalayas, Pamir, Altai. They inhabit areas with bare rocks and only in winter can descend into the valleys. Bars can climb up to 6 km and feel great in such an environment.

These animals prefer to live alone. They live mainly in caves. Predators do not conflict with each other, as they live far from each other. One individual can occupy a fairly vast territory, which other leopards do not stumble upon.

In Russia, these animals can be found in the mountain systems of Siberia (Altai, Sayan). According to a census conducted in 2002, up to two hundred individuals live in the country. At the moment, their number has decreased several times.

What does a snow leopard eat

Snow leopards are hunting on the inhabitants of the mountains: goats, rams, roe deer. If it is not possible to catch a larger animal, they can get by with rodents or birds. In summer, in addition to the meat diet, they can eat plant foods.

The predator goes hunting before sunset or early in the morning. A sharp scent and coloring help him track down the victim, thanks to which he is invisible among the stones. He sneaks up unnoticed and abruptly jumps on the prey. Can jump from a high rock to kill even faster. Leopard jumps can reach 10 meters in length.

If it is not possible to catch the prey, the animal stops hunting for it and looks for another prey. If the prey is large, the predator drags it closer to the rocks. At a time, he eats several kilograms of meat. He throws away the rest and never returns to them.
In times of famine, snow leopards can hunt near settlements and attack domestic animals.

Snow leopard breeding

The mating season of snow leopards falls in the spring months. At this time, males make sounds similar to meowing to attract females. The male takes part only in fertilization. The female is responsible for raising the young. The pregnancy lasts three months. The female equips a lair in the gorges of rocks, where she brings kittens into the world. Usually leopards give birth to 2-4 babies. Babies are born covered in brown fur with dark spots, similar in appearance and size to domestic cats. Little leopards are absolutely helpless and need mother's care.

For up to two months, kittens feed on their mother's milk. Upon reaching this age, the female begins to feed the children with meat. They are no longer afraid to leave the lair and can play at its entrance.
At three months, the children begin to follow their mother, and after a few months they hunt with her. The prey is hunted down by the whole family, but the female attacks. Snow leopards begin to live independently at the age of one year.

Snow leopards they live a little: in captivity they can live for about 20 years, while in the wild they barely live up to 14 years.
These predators have no enemies among wild animals. Their numbers are affected by the lack of food. Due to the harsh living conditions, the number of leopards is decreasing. Man is considered the only enemy of the leopard. The fur of these animals is very valuable, therefore, despite the fact that this is a rather rare animal, hunting for it was quite common. At the moment, hunting for it is prohibited. But poaching still threatens him. Snow leopard fur is valued at tens of thousands of dollars on the black markets.

Zoos around the world contain several thousand representatives of this species. Successfully breed in captivity.
Very little information has been obtained by researchers about snow leopards. It is rare for anyone to see it in the wild. Only traces of leopards living in the mountains can be found.

Snow Leopard belongs to rare and endangered species and is under protection in many countries. For many peoples of Asia, this predator is a symbol of power and strength. On the coats of arms of many Asian cities, you can see the image of a leopard.

). Today we will tell a little and show a lot about an amazing, graceful and deadly animal, about which little is known, because it lives Snow Leopard high in the mountains, where normal explorers do not climb 🙂

The snow leopard is a predator of the cat family. Its other names are ibris, snow leopard. The snow leopard is one of the highest mountain animals. The snow leopard lives in the mountains of the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, Pamir, Tien Shan, Altai and Western Sayan, the Greater Caucasus and in adjacent mountain ranges. In most areas, the snow leopard stays in the summer near alpine meadows along the snow line. In winter, following the ungulates, it descends.

The snow leopard is mainly active at dusk, but sometimes during the day. He hunts in most cases before sunset and in the morning at dawn. In the south of the range, for example, in the Himalayas, the snow leopard goes hunting only before sunset. During the day, snow leopards mostly rest, sleep, lie on the rocks.

The snow leopard makes its lair in caves and crevices of rocks, among rocky heaps, often under an overhanging slab and in other similar places where it hides during the day. Often the irbis occupies the same lair for several years in a row. In the Kyrgyz Alatau, there are cases when the snow leopard was used for daytime hauling large nests of black vultures located on undersized junipers.

A number of subspecies of the snow leopard are known. Between themselves, they differ in basic color, spotting and size. Males are usually larger, more massive, stronger than their compatriots. Adult males weigh between 65 and 75 kg. Body length - up to 2.1 m. The tail (3/7 of the total length) is thick, covered with thick hair.

The sight of the irbis is well developed, sharp. A distinctive feature compared to other large cats: the limbs of the snow leopard are relatively short. The paws of the snow leopard resemble the paws of a lynx and, thanks to the special structure of the feet, allow you to walk in deep snow without falling into it. The muscles of the legs are very strong.

However, the snow leopard is poorly adapted to moving through deep, loose snow. In areas where there is loose snow, snow leopards mainly tread permanent paths along which they move for a long time.

An interesting fact: the long and movable tongue of a snow leopard is equipped on the sides with special tubercles that are covered with keratinized skin and allow you to separate the meat from the skeleton of the victim. These bumps also help with "washing".

The tail is very long, exceeds three-quarters of the body length, covered with long hair and therefore seems very thick (visually its thickness is almost equal to the thickness of the snow leopard's forearm). Serves as a balancer when jumping.

The snow leopard leads a mostly solitary lifestyle. The individual plot is about 160 km2. The habitats of males may partially overlap with those of 1-3 females. The favorite habitats of the snow leopard are rocky areas of mountains, heaps of stones, scree, where there is usually little snow - it is blown away by winds, it is easier to hide from bad weather, find a place for an ambush, and hide from enemies. Here the animal also arranges a lair, choosing a suitable cave, crevice or stone canopy, and sometimes even old nests of vultures in low trees. In these shelters, he spends daylight hours, and with the onset of twilight he goes hunting. The leopard is very attached to his “home”, although, when hunting, he wanders very far from him.

The coat of a snow leopard is very long, thick, fluffy, with a thick undercoat. It serves as an excellent protection against the cold in harsh climatic conditions. Even between the fingers of the irbis leopard, thick hair grows and protects the paw pads from the cold in winter, and from hot stones in summer.

Irbis regularly makes rounds of his hunting area, visiting winter pastures and camps of wild ungulates. At the same time, he moves, adhering to the same routes. Bypassing pastures or descending from the upper belt of mountains to the underlying areas, the snow leopard always follows a path that usually follows a ridge or along a river or stream. The length of such a detour is usually large, so the snow leopard reappears in one place or another once every few days.

The snow leopard is a very good hunter. For him, hunting is not only a means of obtaining food, but also fun. The snow leopard spends the day either in the den or not far from the den. With the onset of dusk, he goes hunting. The snow leopard can spend hours guarding its prey in ambush on a rock or under a rock. Imperceptibly creeps up to her and jumps with lightning speed. Often uses high stones for this, in order to unexpectedly throw the prey to the ground from above and kill it. It can jump up to 6 meters in length and 2.5-3 meters in height. He walks without fear along the rocky ledges over the abyss and attacks his prey with sniper accuracy. Not catching the prey immediately, he stops the pursuit after a few jumps.

Leopards love to play, love to wallow in the snow. Having played out, they often move down a steep hill on their backs, and at the bottom they quickly turn over and fall into a snowdrift on all four paws. After playing or hunting, they make themselves comfortable and bask in the sun.

The snow leopard rut occurs in early spring. The female does not bring offspring every year. Pregnancy in a female lasts 90 days. The female prefers to equip her lair in hard-to-reach places: in crevices, caves or other places where they will not be disturbed by potential enemies. The bottom of the den is lined with wool and undercoat, which the female tears out of herself. For one litter, the female brings from one to five kittens. Kittens are born blind. The eyes of kittens open on the 5-6th day of life. At 10 days of age, kittens begin to crawl, and at two months of age, they begin to leave the den, just to play at its entrance. From that time on, the mother begins to give them meat food. At the age of three months, kittens begin to follow their mother. At 5-6 months old, snow leopard kittens are already hunting with their mother. The whole family sneaks up on the prey, but the female makes the decisive throw.

So, the snow leopard is not a dangerous predator for humans, it is very beautiful and quite rare…

Based on materials http://petland.org.ua/mode-article/pge-284.html

The snow leopard (Irbis) is a proud inhabitant of the mountains, a large predator, an amazing and graceful representative of the cat family. In ancient times, due to the similarity of color with panthers, it had a different name - a snow leopard and was mistakenly assigned to their genus. Animals belong to different genera and are not close relatives. The leopard is inferior to the irbis in dexterity, jumping ability, strength, although it is superior in size.

The living space of these animals captures the high mountains of Tibet, the Altai Ranges, the mountainous regions of the Pamirs, the Himalayas, and the Tien Shan. The snow leopard climbs to heights of up to three thousand meters, in search of prey it easily reaches the six thousandth mark. The size of the population can be judged tentatively. According to scientists, it is in the range of 3.5 - 7.5 thousand individuals. The largest population lives in China - 2 - 5 thousand individuals, the smallest in Uzbekistan - up to 50 individuals.

Due to active human activity and illegal fishing, the number of the species is continuously declining. The beautiful and thick fur of the animal makes it a desirable prey for poachers, and the skin, despite the ban on sale, has a high price and is in great demand on world markets. In the states where the habitat of the predator is located, the snow leopard is protected by law and it is forbidden to kill it. International organizations are taking measures to preserve the population. The predator is listed in the Red Book as being on the verge of extinction.

Appearance

The external similarity of the snow leopard and the panther is limited to spotted color and large body size.

• The wild snow leopard is much fluffier than its counterparts, has a long, especially on the belly, extremely thick fur. Wool length 5 - 12 cm.
• Males are larger than females, weighing from 45 to 55 kg. The weight of females starts from 22 kg and rarely exceeds 40 kg.
• The animal has an elongated body, a squat figure and a long tail.
• The height of an adult animal at the withers is 60 cm, the length of the body with the head is from 103 to 130 cm.
• Paws are wide, short, with retractable claws.
• The head is rounded and small in relation to the body.
• Small ears are rounded at the ends, covered with fluffy fur, without tassels.
• The tail of the snow leopard deserves special attention - it is quite long (90 - 105 cm), with a dense edge, and therefore it seems thicker than the front paws. Serves as a kind of steering wheel and balancer while running and jumping.
• The camouflage color makes the animal invisible against the background of stones, rock surfaces, ice and snow. The main tone of the skin is grayish, with a smoky tint, almost white on the sides, belly and paws (their inner surface). Clouded leopards that live in the eastern and southern territories of Asia have a similar shade. The faded coat pattern consists of dark spots of various shapes, from 5 to 8 cm in diameter. The smallest marks are on the head, larger ones adorn the neck and paws, ring-shaped shadows are scattered on the sides and on the back. In some places, the rings merge into short longitudinal lines. Tail - with large dark spots and a black tip.

In the photo, young predators show a more pronounced coloration than adults. At the same time, the snow leopard - the male in terms of the intensity of the color of the skin is no different from the female. There are no differences in color and types of snow leopards living in different territories.

Habitat

The usual place of residence is bare stone blocks, rhododendron bushes, alpine pastures, deep rocky gorges. The snow leopard is often found in areas with low snow cover. Chooses open plateaus, steep slopes and deep gorges. Sometimes descends into forests, but spends most of its life above the forest line.

In the region of the Turkestan Range, it does not occur below 2.6 thousand meters. In the Himalayas, it climbs to heights of up to 6 thousand meters. In a number of places throughout the year it lives at altitudes not exceeding 1 thousand meters above sea level (spurs of the Dzungarian Alatau, Matai).

Seasonal migrations of the animal are associated with the migration of its main prey - ungulates. In winter, high snow forces predators to descend from the highlands and move to the middle belt of mountains. In summer, the irbis returns to its usual alpine zone.

Behavioral features

The animal snow leopard, as a rule, chooses loneliness. Some individuals live in pairs - female and male. Personal territory is marked in various ways, but this is more of a habit than a necessity. In its protection, the snow leopard is not particularly zealous, it reacts calmly to the appearance of females or other males. The size of the hunting grounds for individual individuals differ significantly, depending on the region of habitat, the amount of prey (the less suitable food, the more land). An individual site can occupy an area from 12 km 2 to 160 km 2.

The snow leopard goes hunting at dusk - early in the morning or before sunset. In search of food, the snow leopard sets off along the same route. Looks at the camps and pastures of wild ungulates, hunts along the way for smaller game. Often such a journey takes several days, and before returning to the den, the animal has to travel tens of kilometers. A stream, river or mountain range serve as a reference point for movement.

Deep snow restrains the agility of the animal, prevents hunting. To make his way easier, he has to tread paths in the snow. Routes rarely change, the snow leopard uses the same trails more than once. Such predictability attracts poachers - an unsuspecting predator becomes easy prey for them.

Irbis equips a shelter in rocky heaps, caves, rock crevices. It settles in the den for several years, chooses suitable shelters for a rookery far from home.

Nutrition

The snow leopard is a universal hunter. Represents the same danger, both for yaks, rams, roe deer, and for mice, ground squirrels and small birds. The predator's diet consists of fresh meat, preference is given to ungulates, but if hares, pheasants and small rodents come across on the way, they also do not refuse them. The lack of vitamins makes up for in the summer, supplementing the main diet with grass and plant shoots. The daily norm of meat for an adult predator is 2-3 kg.

The snow leopard tracks down its prey from an ambush, hiding at watering places, paths, or quietly creeps up to the victim. Attacks a few tens of meters from the victim, abruptly jumps out and jumps overtakes the lingering animal. In case of a miss, it runs 300 meters after the game or, resigned to defeat, goes in search of a new target.

With large animals, the snow leopard jumps on its back, clings to the throat, strangles them or breaks their necks. The trophy is dragged into the shelter and only there begins the meal, tearing the meat from the skeleton of the victim with sharp teeth. Leaves the rest of the dinner to everyone, eats only fresh food. In its habitat it is out of competition and has no obvious enemies.

Reproduction and care of offspring

The young snow leopard reaches puberty by 3-4 years. The period of mating games, bass meowing and courtship falls on the last month of winter, often captures the first months of spring.

The snow leopard cat prepares thoroughly for childbirth: it chooses a secluded place for shelter (a cave, a cozy crevice, sometimes a vulture's nest), selflessly insulates it with its own wool, tearing it out of its belly. After 3 - 3.5 months (in April - May), the female has offspring - from 3 to 5 kittens. The whole burden of motherhood falls on the mother. In the upbringing of babies, the father participates only in rare cases.

A newborn snow leopard cub has a length of no more than 30 cm, weighs about 500 grams, does not see anything, and if something happens to its mother during this period, it simply dies. The eyes of the babies open on the 6th - 8th day, at 10 days the grown cubs begin to crawl. The female feeds the cubs with milk only for the first six weeks. Despite this, they manage to get all the nutrients necessary for a growing organism, grow up and get stronger. Leopard fat milk is five times more nutritious than that of a domestic cow - an indispensable source of energy in cold climates.

Two-month-old kittens get out of the den, play, bask in the sun and meet their mother with prey at the entrance to the shelter. Often such meetings end in quarrels - the kids are indignant, fighting, tearing pieces of meat from each other.

The restless family follows their mother's heels as early as three months, and at five they keep her company on the hunt. The female teaches the cubs to observe the victim, to sneak up, and she herself makes the decisive throw. Gradually, the hunt turns into a real safari with larger victims. The young generation begins independent life at the age of two.

Relationship with a person

In relation to people, the snow leopard is less aggressive than the tiger and leopard.. He does not touch people, and if he meets, he does not attack first. Only two cases of an animal attacking a person are known for certain.

In a hungry year, when the lack of food becomes noticeable, the predator easily switches to livestock - cows, goats, sheep, horses. The irreparable damage suffered by pastoralists can lead to the killing of the snow leopard.

Life in captivity

The snow leopard in the zoo is kept in a spacious bright enclosure over 5 meters high. The conditions of stay are as close as possible to the natural environment. The territory is equipped with stumps of different heights, snags, artificially created stone heaps. Irbis do not tolerate hot weather, in the summer they hide in a den or under the crowns of trees.

The animal leads a full life: plays, runs, jumps, climbs rocky ledges, brings offspring. The female arranges a rookery in the inner compartment of the enclosure. There she feeds newborn kittens with milk, licks them, nurses them and jealously guards them.

Primiparous females are very restless, sometimes they abandon their cubs, stop feeding. For foundlings, an ordinary cat becomes a nurse - the composition of her milk practically does not differ from the composition of the leopard's milk. If it is not possible to find a suitable cat, the zoo staff feeds the kittens with artificial milk replacer from the nipple.

Adult predators receive food 1 time per day. The diet consists of beef and live food (rabbits, chickens, laboratory rats, mice). Mixtures of minerals and vitamins, fresh herbs must be added to food. A healthy pet eats the entire portion offered during feeding.

So that the animals do not overeat, a fasting day is provided for them once a week. Animals are deprived of food for a day. This practice does not apply to lactating females (until the end of the lactation period) and kittens under six months old.

The life span of individuals in natural conditions is not more than 13 years. This is very short compared to how long snow leopards live in captivity - the average life expectancy is 21 years.

1. The snow leopard easily copes with game that is three times its weight.
2. The animal makes jumps up to 15 meters long.
3. The irbis does not know how to growl like other big cats. But it purrs like a domestic cat and meows in a bass voice.
4. The snow leopard (stylized version) is depicted on the coats of arms of Tatarstan, Khakassia, adorns the coat of arms of Alma-Ata and Samarkand.

This is the only large cat that lives high in the mountains, where eternal snow rests silently. No wonder the semi-official title of "Snow Leopard" was given to climbers who managed to conquer the five legendary seven-thousander mountains of the Soviet Union.

Description of the snow leopard

Uncia uncia, which lives in the highlands of Central Asia, is also called the snow leopard or snow leopard.. Russian merchants borrowed the last word in the original transcription of “irbiz” from Turkic hunters back in the 17th century, but only a century later this beautiful beast was “introduced” to Europeans (so far only in the picture). This was done in 1761 by Georges Buffon, who accompanied the drawing with a remark that Once (irbis) is trained for hunting and is found in Persia.

A scientific description from the German naturalist Johann Schreber appeared somewhat later, in 1775. Over the following centuries, the snow leopard was studied by many eminent zoologists and travelers, including our Nikolai Przhevalsky. Paleogenetics, for example, found that the snow leopard belongs to the ancient species that appeared on the planet about 1.4 million years ago.

Appearance

This is an imposing cat, reminiscent of a leopard, but not as large and more stocky. There are other signs that distinguish the snow leopard from the snow leopard: a long (by 3/4 of the body) thick tail and a peculiar pattern of rosettes and spots. An adult snow leopard grows up to 2–2.5 m (including tail) with a height at the withers of about 0.6 m. Males are always larger than females and weigh 45–55 kg, while the weight of the latter varies in the range of 22–40 kg.

The snow leopard has a small, rounded head with short, rounded ears. There are no tassels on them, and in winter the ears are almost buried in thick fur. The snow leopard has expressive eyes (to match the coat) and 10-centimeter vibrissae. Relatively short limbs rest on wide massive paws with retractable claws. Where the snow leopard passed, there are round footprints without marks from the claws. Due to the dense and high hair, the tail looks thicker than it is, and is used by the snow leopard as a balance when jumping.

It is interesting! The snow leopard has unusually thick and soft fur, which warms the animal in harsh winters. The length of the hair on the back reaches 55 mm. In terms of coat density, the snow leopard is close not to large, but to small cats.

The back and upper zones of the sides are painted in light gray (tending to white), but the belly, the back of the limbs and the sides from below are always lighter than the back. The unique pattern is created by the combination of large ring-shaped rosettes (in which smaller spots sit) and solid black/dark gray spots. The smallest spots adorn the head of the snow leopard, the larger ones are distributed over the neck and legs. On the back of the back, the spotting turns into striping when the spots merge with each other, forming longitudinal stripes. On the second half of the tail, the spots usually close into an incomplete ring, but the tip of the tail is black on top.

Winter fur is usually grayish, with a smoky patina (more pronounced on the back and over the sides), sometimes with an admixture of slight yellowness. This coloration is designed to mask the snow leopard among the ice, gray rocks and snow. By summer, the main background of the fur fades almost to white, on which dark spots appear more clearly. Young snow leopards are always more intensely colored than their older relatives.

Character and lifestyle

This is a territorial animal, prone to loneliness: only females with growing kittens form related groups. Each snow leopard has a personal area, whose area (in different locations of the range) ranges from 12 km² to 200 km². Animals mark the boundaries of their personal territory with scent marks, but do not try to defend it in fights. The snow leopard usually hunts at dawn or before sunset, less often during the day. It is known that snow leopards living in the Himalayas go hunting strictly at dusk.

During the day, animals rest on the rocks, often using the same den for several years. The lair is often arranged in rock crevices and caves, among rocky placers, preferring to hide under overhanging slabs. Eyewitnesses said that they saw snow leopards in the Kyrgyz Alatau, reclining on undersized junipers in the nests of black vultures.

It is interesting! The irbis periodically bypasses the personal area, checking the camps / pastures of wild ungulates and following familiar routes. Usually his path (when descending from the peaks to the plain) runs along a mountain range or along a stream / river.

Due to the considerable length of the route, the detour takes several days, which explains the rare appearances of the animal at one point. In addition, deep and loose snow slows down its movements: in such places, the snow leopard paves permanent paths.

How long do irbis live

It has been established that in the wild, snow leopards live for about 13 years, and almost twice as long in zoological parks. The average life expectancy in captivity is 21 years, but a female snow leopard has survived to 28 years of age.

Range, habitats

The irbis is recognized as an exclusively Asian species, whose range (with a total area of ​​1.23 million km²) passes through the mountainous regions of Central and South Asia. The zone of vital interests of the snow leopard includes such countries as:

• Russia and Mongolia;
• Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan;
• Uzbekistan and Tajikistan;
• Pakistan and Nepal;
• China and Afghanistan;
• India, Myanmar and Bhutan.

Geographically, the range extends from the Hindu Kush (in the east of Afghanistan) and the Syr Darya to Southern Siberia (where it covers Altai, Tannu-Ola and Sayan), crossing the Pamirs, Tien Shan, Karakorum, Kunlun, Kashmir and the Himalayas. In Mongolia, the snow leopard is found in the Mongolian / Gobi Altai and in the Khangai mountains, in Tibet - up to the north of Altunshan.

Important! Russia accounts for only 2–3% of the world range: these are the northern and northwestern regions of the species. In our country, the total area of ​​\u200b\u200bsettlement of the snow leopard is approaching 60 thousand km². The animal can be found in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Tuva, Buryatia, Khakassia, the Altai Republic and in the mountains of the Eastern Sayan (including the Munku-Sardyk and Tunkinsky Goltsy ridges).

Irbis is not afraid of high mountains and eternal snows, choosing open plateaus, gentle/steep slopes and small valleys with alpine vegetation, which are interspersed with rocky gorges and heaps of stones. Sometimes animals adhere to more even areas with shrubs and scree that can hide from prying eyes. Snow leopards mostly live above the forest line, but occasionally enter the forests (usually in winter).

The diet of the snow leopard

The predator easily cracks down on prey three times its weight. The constant gastronomic interest of the snow leopard is caused by ungulates:

• markhorn and Siberian mountain goats;
• blue sheep;
• takins and containers;
• argali and gorals;
• musk deer and deer;
• serow and

  Irbis hunts alone, watching for ungulates near watering places, salt licks and paths: attacking from above, from a cliff, or creeping up from behind shelters. At the end of summer, in autumn and with the onset of winter, snow leopards go hunting in groups consisting of a female and her brood. A predator jumps out of an ambush when the distance between it and the prey is reduced enough to reach it with several powerful jumps. If the object escapes, the snow leopard loses interest in it immediately or falls behind after running 300 meters.

  Large ungulate snow leopards are usually grabbed by the throat, and then strangle or break the neck. The carcass is dragged under a rock or into a safe shelter, where you can safely dine. When sated, it throws its prey, but sometimes it lies nearby, driving away scavengers, for example,. On the territory of Russia, the diet of the snow leopard is predominantly made up of mountain goats, deer, argali, and roe deer.