They eat snow leopards. Animal irbis: description, habitat

The irbis, or snow leopard, hunts alone in the highest mountains of the world.

Systematics

Russian name - snow leopard

English name - snow leopard

Latin name - uncia

Squad - predatory (Carnivora)

Family - cats (Felidae)

Genus - snow leopards (Uncia), has 1 species.

Conservation status of the species

Irbis is endangered, listed in the IUCN Red List.

View and person

The irbis has been persecuted by humans in the past because of its beautiful fur. Since 1952, in India and the USSR, he was taken under protection. Currently, hunting for it is prohibited everywhere.

Distribution and habitats

Irbis lives in the mountainous regions of Asia from Afghanistan to western China, in the Himalayas, in Tibet, in the mountains of Mongolia, in Altai. This is one of the highest mountain animals. In most areas in summer, the snow leopard stays near alpine meadows along the snow line at an altitude of 3500-4000 m, in the Himalayas - up to 5500-6000 m. selects areas where small open plateaus and narrow valleys alternate with steep gorges and heaps of rocks.

Appearance and morphology

The body length of the snow leopard is 110–125 cm, weight 20–40 kg. If we compare the length of the tail and body, then of all the cats, the snow leopard has the longest tail, it is more than three quarters of the body length. The general tone of the color of the back and sides of the body is grayish-smoky, sometimes slightly yellowish. Against this background there are dark spots with unsharp outlines - large annular and small solid ones. On a small head - short, wide-set ears and large, high-set eyes. The fur cover of the beast is very thick, lush and soft. Thick wool grows even between the toes and protects the paw pads in winter - from the cold, in summer - from hot stones.

Irbis hunting alone in the highest mountains of the world

Lifestyle and social behavior

Animals live alone. They mark their sites with scrapes and scent marks. The home ranges of males may partially overlap with those of 1–3 females.

Feeding and feeding behavior

The basis of the nutrition of the snow leopard is made up of large ungulates: the Siberian mountain goat, argali. In the foothills, the snow leopard hunts roe deer and wild boar. In its huge hunting area (up to 100 sq. km), the predator moves, adhering to the same routes, bypassing the pastures of potential victims known to it. Like other high mountain animals, the snow leopard makes regular seasonal vertical migrations: in summer it follows ungulates to high alpine meadows; in spring - in the forest belt; after heavy snowfalls descends to foothill plains.

In alpine meadows and outcrops of rocks, the irbis, except for ungulates, catches marmots and ground squirrels, snowcocks and partridges. The leopard silently sneaks up on its prey and suddenly jumps on it. It can jump up to 10 meters in length and up to 3 meters in height. Not catching the prey immediately, he stops the pursuit after a few jumps. Having killed a large animal, the predator drags it under a rock or a tree and starts eating. At one time, he eats only 2-3 kg of meat, and throws away the abundant leftovers of the meal and does not return to them anymore.

Vocalization

Irbis do not emit a loud inviting roar, characteristic of large cats, but purr like small ones. During the rut, the animals make sounds similar to bass meowing.

Reproduction and education of offspring

The snow leopard rut occurs in March - May. The male meets with the female only at this time and subsequently does not take part in the upbringing of children. Three months later, in the lair, which the female arranges in a cave or in a crevice of a hard-to-reach gorge, 2-4 kittens are born. Newborns the size of a small domestic cat, completely helpless, are covered with thick brownish fur, dotted with dark solid spots. They open their eyes at the age of one and a half weeks. At the age of two months, the kittens begin to leave the den to play at its entrance, from this time the mother gives them meat food. At the age of 3 months, the cubs begin to follow their mother, and five to six months old already hunt with her. The prey is hidden by the whole family, but the decisive throw is made by the female. Animals move on to an independent solitary life by the beginning of next spring.

Lifespan

In captivity, they live up to 20 years, in nature - less.

Irbis have been kept in the Moscow Zoo for more than a hundred years. The first snow leopard appeared on display in 1901. It was a gift from the Honorary Trustee of the Zoological Garden K. K. Ushakov. Since then, more than one generation of these amazing cats has changed in the zoo's collection. There was a time when eight snow leopards were kept on the Cat Row. The workers of the section achieved regular breeding among these inhabitants of the snowy expanses, so many snow leopards exhibited at the zoo were of their own breeding. For many years, a female snow leopard named Olga, who was born in the Moscow Zoo in 1996, lived in an enclosure between a Far Eastern leopard and a puma at the Cats' Ryad exhibition for many years. She had kittens only once, but this well-deserved grandmother had a very calm, balanced character, was not at all afraid of visitors and sat near the bars for a long time. She lived for over 20 years and died at the end of January 2017.

In addition to her, we now have three more cats - two males and a female. In 2013, it was she who gave birth to three kittens. Blue-eyed fluffy babies from the first minutes were surrounded by maternal care. In a secluded den in the interior, the female fed them with milk, licked them, carefully guarding them from prying eyes. Even employees were allowed to look at the kittens for a while. As soon as the babies could be taken away from the mother, who stopped feeding them, they moved to a new place of residence, each to his own. Someone - to Finland, to the homeland of their father, one of our two males, someone - to conquer the inhabitants of France with their beauty, the third - to Hungary.

They feed the snow leopard, like all predators in the zoo, once a day with meat. Various vitamin and mineral mixtures are necessarily added to it to maintain balanced diet, periodically - hydroponic greens. One day a week, the snow leopard always has an unloading day, when the cat does not receive food at all. With this diet, predators feel better, do not overeat.

The snow leopard can hardly be called an aggressive animal, but even after living in captivity for a long time, it remains wild and cannot be tamed. As true inhabitants of the highlands, living near the border of ice, snow leopards do not tolerate heat well. Therefore, in summer, our cats often hide in the shade, and it can be difficult to see them.

The irbis or snow leopard, also known as the snow leopard, is one of the most mysterious and least studied species of big cats. Studies have shown that the snow leopard has more in common with the tiger than with the leopard, and both species share a common ancestor.

The separation took place about 2 million years ago. In 2006, after a detailed genetic analysis, these cats were identified as a species of the panther genus.

Irbis lead a rather secretive lifestyle. They live in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan plateau in Central Asia at altitudes up to 7000 m above sea level. In summer, they are found at altitudes from 3,350 to 6,700 meters above sea level, where they are sometimes seen by climbers. These large cats live in forests, steppes and mountainous areas. In winter, they go lower - up to 1,200 - 2,000 m above sea level.

The difficulty in observing and studying their way of life is due to the inaccessibility of their habitats and the large territory that they usually occupy.

Irbis are able to jump up to 15 m, helping themselves with their tail as a rudder.

Snow leopards, like most cats (with the exception of lions), are loners. In pairs, they unite only during the mating season. They are most active at dawn and dusk. In search of food, they cross their hunting grounds along certain routes. The irbis can move even in deep snow (up to 85 cm deep), but usually follows the paths trodden by other animals.

The snow leopard hunts in its chosen territory, and defends it fiercely in case other predators invade. The area occupied by each snow leopard, depending on the terrain, ranges from 12 to 40 km2.

Irbis can travel up to 40 miles in one night.

Irbis can jump up to 15 meters. surpassing in this even the cougar, which jumps a maximum of 12 meters.

The irbis has thick grayish fur on its back and white or creamy white on its belly. In some representatives of the species, the fur has a brown tint. Spots on the skin are black or dark brown. Distinctive feature appearance of the snow leopard - a thick and very long tail, up to 100 cm in length.

The snow leopard preys mainly on ungulates such as the mountain goat. Its diet also includes marmots, birds and small vertebrates. When the snow leopard is hungry, he may even climb into houses in search of food. Then domestic animals, cattle and poultry become its victims. In addition to meat, the snow leopard sometimes eats small branches and grass.

Few snow leopards live in nature. In 1994, the population was estimated at 4,000 to 6,500 individuals. Today it is believed that it is 2,000 - 3,300 cats. About 600 snow leopards live in zoos. For example, in Poland they can be seen in the zoos of Gdansk, Krakow, Lodz, Opole, Plock, Poznan and Warsaw.

Populations:

Afghanistan - 100-200;
Butane - 100-200;
China - 2,000-2,500;
India - 200-600;
Kazakhstan - 180-200;
Kyrgyzstan - 150-500;
Mongolia - 500-1,000;
Nepal - 300-500;
Pakistan - 200-420;
Tajikistan - 180-220;
Uzbekistan - 20-50.

reproduction

Snow leopards form pairs only during the mating season. Females give birth to kittens in caves or rock crevices that are covered with moss and mother's hair. The cubs have darker fur than their parents, which allows them to better hide among the rocks.

Protection of the snow leopard population

The snow leopard is included in the list of animals that are under the protection of the International Society for the Protection of Animals.

Irbis sizes:

Body length 75 - 130 cm.
Tail length: 80 - 100 cm.
Height: 60 cm.
Weight: 27 - 55 kg (rarely up to 75 kg).
Life span: 16-18 years.

Do you know that …

The snow leopard can jump further than any other cat on earth - up to 15 meters.

Meet at wild nature this beast is almost impossible. And not only because snow leopard prefers snow-covered mountain slopes as a place of residence, but also because poachers have opened a real hunt for this cat, and there is nothing left of them ...

Snow leopard in natural shelter under a rock. Even from a few steps you can hardly distinguish it

He's a "barsik"

Usually this animal is called snow leopard or snow leopard. The Russian merchants took the name "irbis" from the Turkic language, slightly changing it (in the Turkic language, this cat is called "irbiz").

In Tuva, it is called Irbish, in Semirechye - Ilbers, but, as we see, it is difficult to confuse a snow leopard with anyone else - even its numerous names in languages different peoples they sound almost the same. But as a species, it is quite possible to confuse this "leopard", which was done for a long time by various kinds of amateur zoologists.

At first, the snow leopard was considered a relative of the leopard for a long time, simply because they are slightly similar in appearance. But when genetic studies were carried out, it turned out that the snow leopard is most closely related to the tiger - something like a second cousin.

Supporters of the "leopard" theory tried to refute the studies of the "tigers". Those, in turn, began a campaign to promote the snow leopard to the panther genus (which, in fact, includes the tiger).

While zoologists fought among themselves for the right to give the snow leopard an honorable place in the pantheon of tigers or leopards, much more aggressive warriors - poachers - practically wiped out the snow leopard tribe. The unusually beautiful skin of this animal is an expensive trophy for a poacher. Human greed leads to the fact that these big wild cats will soon be gone from our planet.

Universal Disguise

Irbis is a rather large animal, about the size of a leopard, which is why they were confused for so long. It is a little over a meter long, and that's not counting the gorgeous tail. The body of a snow cat is elongated, squat, on rather short legs; small, rounded ears set wide apart, and a beautiful thick, fluffy and soft coat serves as an excellent protection from the cold.

The color of the snow leopard is gray with a smoky coating, sometimes almost white. Large black annular and small solid spots are scattered throughout the body, which, again, outwardly makes it similar to a leopard. There are incomplete transverse annular spots on the tail. The sides are much lighter than the back, and the belly is almost white.

In summer, the color is lighter than in winter. This is a perfect protective color, allowing the leopard to track prey among the rocks, while remaining unnoticed. Thanks to their skin, snow leopards are perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions in which they live.

sad numbers

The habitats of the snow leopard are located on the territory of many Central Asian states. These are Afghanistan and India, Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the southern Siberian territories of Russia.

It would seem that the range is quite large - live and multiply, but ... The figures, at least for Russia, show the opposite. For example: only five to seven individuals live in Khakassia; the same number - on the Ukok plateau; at the junction of Altai and Western Sayan (Mongun-Taiga) only four snow leopards live.

The largest and at the same time the least studied group of snow leopards lives on the North and South Chuya ridges - scientists counted about thirty to forty individuals there.

The most stable group lives in the Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve - there are about fifteen individuals there. In general, on Russian territory there are one hundred and fifty, maximum - two hundred snow leopards. And the number is decreasing every year.

It is difficult to say what is going on in neighboring states, but the wars that do not stop there are unlikely to contribute to the preservation of the local fauna.

For prey

Little is known about the irbis. As already mentioned, this big cat prefers to live in difficult places in mountainous areas: on ridges, in rocky gorges, which is why it is called the snow leopard. However, the irbis avoids climbing high into the mountains - to the eternal snows.

In summer, the snow leopard lives at the very snow line, at an altitude of about four thousand meters, and in winter it descends. The main reason for these movements is quite commonplace - the search for food.

The basis of the nutrition of snow leopards are mountain goats, deer, roe deer, reindeer. However, there are exceptions. There is a known case when an irbis attacked a brown bear in the Aksu-Dzhabagly nature reserve and killed it. Snow leopards hunt in two ways: they crawl up to their prey, skillfully disguising themselves, or overtake the approaching victim with huge jumps from an ambush.

But snow leopards never attack people, even when they are wounded. Only a few cases of attacks of these animals on people are known, but such excesses happened only with snow leopards infected with rabies. And with this disease, any animal is dangerous, even hamsters.

If the paths of a snow leopard and a person accidentally cross, the snow leopard, without showing any signs of fear or aggression, hides, using its camouflage skin, or simply quietly leaves, hiding behind natural shelters.

The snow leopard treats the neighborhood with people very calmly. He can live side by side with hunters or cattle breeders, and they will not even suspect his presence.

Compromise

A conflict between a snow leopard and a person arises only if the snow leopard begins to run out of food. Of course, he can hunt hares and partridges, but you won’t be fed up with such small prey, and the snow leopard easily switches to livestock.

This is where a serious problem arises: on the one hand, the snow leopard is an extremely rare animal listed in the Red Book, on the other hand, domestic goats, sheep, cows, even horses and yaks no longer feel safe. That is why in some areas, primarily in Tyva, shepherds often start hunting for snow leopards, motivating their actions by the need to protect livestock.

However, this problem is completely solvable. First, you can adopt the practice of the Mongols. There is a special state structure, which creates favorable conditions for pastoralists who have refused to hunt the snow leopard: for a domestic animal killed by the claws of the snow leopard, the state pays compensation to the shepherds (in money, food or fuel), of course, only if the predator was not destroyed.

snow leopard cubs

Secondly, it is necessary to strictly control the hunting of artiodactyls, and in addition to combine this with the protection of domestic herds with the help of four-legged guards, in particular, the Mongolian and Tuvan shepherd dogs. Unfortunately, these breeds are almost rarer than the snow leopard itself, but such guards, in any case, can be raised and trained. In this situation, the sheep will be safe, and the snow leopards will be full.

The most extreme, although the most reliable way to save any animal from extermination is to keep it in captivity. Currently, snow leopards live in eight zoos in Russia - in the amount of twenty-seven individuals.

They successfully breed in the Novosibirsk and Moscow zoos, and even work in the Leningrad zoo - they carry out security functions. After the closing of the zoo, specially trained security guards patrol its territory with snow leopards on a leash.

But let's agree that life in captivity is not life. Therefore, it is better to do everything so that the snow leopard can live peacefully in its rocks.

Konstantin FEDOROV

Niramin - Sep 2nd, 2015

Irbis or, as hunters have long called it, the snow leopard is an animal from the cat family. By appearance similar to a leopard, but slightly smaller in size. Because of their valuable fur, people massively hunted them, after which they were listed in the Red Book of the World. Therefore, if you were lucky enough to see a snow leopard, then you are very lucky. Since each time the probability of meeting with him sharply decreased.

The appearance of the snow leopard

The body length of the snow leopard, including the tail, is about two meters. Its weight is about 45-55 kg. Males are usually much larger than females. Outwardly, in the shape of the head and its physique, it resembles a domestic cat. The wide paws of the predator are strong, equipped with curved and sharp claws. Thanks to its paws, the irbis easily steps over the snow without falling into it. Due to the beautiful coat color, gray-white with black spots on the fur allows the predator to camouflage well among the rocks in winter. Of the representatives of the cat family, this is the only animal that can jump from heights of 15 meters down with pinpoint accuracy.

Where does the snow leopard live

Leopards are very secretive animals. They live alone in hard-to-reach places, in rocky cliffs high in the mountains, up to about 5 thousand at sea level, among the mountains of Central and Central Asia. If in summer he lives high in the mountains, then in winter he descends into the valleys.

What do snow leopards eat and who do they hunt?

For hunting, the snow leopard chooses the main time - twilight. During the day, they bask in the sun or rest in the den. They always hunt alone, chasing their prey for a long time. Having killed their prey, they bring it into the dwelling and only then, they start eating food. They can eat up to 3 kg of meat at a time.

Predators feed on artiodactyl animals, such as rams, goats, sheep, but they also love a hare and even a mouse. If they are completely hungry, they can go down to the valley and attack livestock.

How do snow leopards breed?

The mating season or breeding season for leopards falls on the beginning of spring: March - April. Pregnancy of the female lasts up to 100 days, and therefore give birth only once every two years. Usually up to 3 cubs are born. At two months, they already begin to follow their mother everywhere, since the father does not take part in the upbringing. They feed exclusively on mother's milk up to 4 months. The final puberty in predators reaches the age of three.

See a selection of photos of the snow leopard:

Irbis in a high jump.

mother and cub

Photo: Angry Irbis

Video: Irbis - the legend of snow-capped mountains (Film by Ivan Usanov).

Video: Snow leopard attacks bull yak

Video: Afghanistan: Snow Leopard: WILD HD

Usually this beast is called a snow leopard or a snow leopard. The Russian merchants took the name "irbis" from the Turkic language, slightly changing it (in the Turkic language, this cat is called "irbiz").

In Tuva it is called irbish, in Semirechye - ilbers, to the east of Alma-Ata in the regions bordering China - irviz, i.e. its numerous names in the languages of different peoples sound almost the same.

For a long time, the snow leopard was considered a relative of the leopard, but when genetic studies were carried out, it turned out that the snow leopard was most closely related to the tiger.

Appearance

Relatively large cat. The body is strongly elongated and squat, slightly raised in the region of the sacrum. The length of the body with the head is 103-130 cm, the length of the tail itself is 90-105 cm. The height at the shoulders is about 60 cm. The males are somewhat larger than the females. The body weight of males reaches 45-55 kg, females - 22-40 kg.

The coat is high, very thick and soft. It provides protection from cold, harsh conditions habitat. In terms of fur density, the irbis differs from all big cats and is more similar to small ones.

The general background of the color of the fur is brownish-gray without any impurities of yellow and red. The main color of the coat on the back and upper part of the sides is light gray or grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating. Scattered over the general light gray background are rare large ring-shaped spots in the form of rosettes, inside which there may be an even smaller spot, as well as small solid spots of black or dark gray. The general color of the main background of winter fur is very light, grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating, more noticeable on the back and on the top of the sides. This coloring perfectly masks the beast in its natural habitat - among dark rocks, stones, white snow and ice. The general background of summer fur is characterized by a lighter, almost white color and sharp outlines of dark spots. Smoky coating of fur is less pronounced in summer than in winter.

The snow leopard, unlike other big cats, cannot growl. "Purring" occurs both when inhaling and exhaling - like in small cats.

Irbis Habitat

The range of the snow leopard covers the territory of 13 countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan, India, Burma, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan. Animals prefer life in the slopes of gorges, high in the mountains up to 5 thousand above sea level. Therefore, snow leopards are considered exclusively mountain predators.

Previously, the family of snow leopards occupied an area of 8-12 square meters. km., today it has quadrupled due to a catastrophic decrease in the number of animals.

It would seem that the range is quite large - live and multiply, but ... the numbers show the opposite. For example: only five to seven individuals live in Khakassia; the same number - on the Ukok plateau; at the junction of Altai and Western Sayan (Mongun-Taiga) only four snow leopards live.

The largest and at the same time the least studied group of snow leopards lives on the North and South Chuya ridges - scientists counted about thirty to forty individuals there.

The most stable group lives in the Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve - there are about fifteen individuals there. In general, one hundred and fifty, maximum - two hundred snow leopards remained on Russian territory. And the number is decreasing every year.

Food, hunting

The main hunting time for the snow leopard is twilight. Snow leopards feed on artiodactyls (rams, goats, wild sheep, etc.), as well as mice and hares. Despite its attachment to the house, the snow leopard can wander quite far in the process of searching for prey. At one time, an adult snow leopard can eat 2-3 kg of meat.

But snow leopards never attack people, even when they are wounded. The snow leopard treats the neighborhood with people very calmly. He can live side by side with hunters or cattle breeders, and they will not even suspect his presence.

A conflict between a snow leopard and a person arises only if the snow leopard begins to lack food, then he can easily switch to livestock.

social behavior

Adult snow leopards are territorial animals, leading a predominantly solitary lifestyle (but family groups are also found), although females raise kittens for quite a long period of time. Each snow leopard lives within the boundaries of a strictly defined individual territory. However, it does not aggressively defend a territory from other members of its species. The habitat of an adult male may be overlapped by individual habitats of one to three females.

reproduction

The mating season is in March-April. The birth of cubs occurs 1 time in two years. The pregnancy of a female snow leopard is about 100 days. From 1 to 5 cubs are born. Newborns weigh about 500g and are born with closed ear canals and are blind. Up to 4 months, kittens eat mother's milk. Complementary feeding with meat begins at the age of 2 months, and already at six months the babies go hunting with their mother. By the age of three, snow leopards reach sexual maturity.

Security

At present, the number of snow leopards is catastrophically small.

In all countries where the range is located, the snow leopard is under state protection, but it is still threatened by poaching. The snow leopard is a rare, scarce, endangered species. It is listed on the IUCN Red List (2000) as "endangered" (the highest protection category is EN C2A). In the Red Book of Mongolia (1997), the species was given the status of “very rare”, in the Red Book Russian Federation(2001) - "endangered species at the limit of the range" (category 1).

Currently, snow leopards live in eight zoos in Russia - in the amount of twenty-seven individuals.

They successfully breed in Novosibirsk and Moscow zoos.