Snow leopards are eating. Animal snow leopard: description, habitat

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

Taxonomy

Russian name - snow leopard

English name - snow leopard

Latin name - uncia

Order - Carnivora (Carnivora)

Family - Feline (Felidae)

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

Species conservation status

Irbis is endangered, listed in the IUCN Red List.

View and man

Irbis in the past was persecuted by a man because of the beautiful fur. Since 1952, in India and the USSR, he was taken under protection. Currently, hunting for him is universally prohibited.

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 is kept near alpine meadows along the snow border at an altitude of 3500–4000 m, in the Himalayas - up to 5500 –6000 m. In winter, after ungulates, it goes down to 1800 m, and in the Dzhungarskiy Alatau - up to 600 m. Everywhere it selects areas where small open plateaus and narrow valleys alternate with steep gorges and piles of rocks.

Appearance and morphology

The body length of the irbis is 110–125 cm, and the weight is 20–40 kg. If we compare the length of the tail and the body, then of all the feline 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 blurry outlines - large annular and small solid ones. On a small head are short, wide-set ears and large, high-set eyes. The fur cover of the beast is very thick, lush and soft. Thick hair grows even between the fingers and protects the paw pads in winter - from the cold, in the summer - from hot stones.

Irbis hunts alone in the highest mountains of the world

Lifestyle and social behavior

Beasts live alone. They mark their areas with scratches and odor marks. The habitats of males can partially overlap with areas of 1-3 females.

Nutrition and feed behavior

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

On alpine meadows and rock outcrops, the irbis, except for ungulates, catches marmots and ground squirrels, Ular and cupcakes. The leopard sneaks up on its victim silently and suddenly jumps on it. He can jump up to 10 meters in length and up to 3 in height. Without catching the prey immediately, he stops the pursuit after several jumps. Having killed a large animal, a predator drags it under a rock, or a tree, and begins to eat. At one time he eats only 2-3 kg of meat, and throws abundant leftovers from the meal and never returns to them.

Vocalization

Irbises do not emit a loud call roar, characteristic of large cats, but purr like small ones. During rutting, animals make sounds similar to bass meow.

Breeding and raising offspring

Snow leopard runs in March - May. The male meets the female only at this time and subsequently does not take part in raising children. Three months later, in the den, which the female arranges in a cave or in the crevice of a hard-to-reach gorge, 2 to 4 kittens are born. Newborns the size of a small domestic cat, completely helpless, covered with thick brownish fur, mottled with dark solid spots. They open their eyes at the age of one and a half weeks. At the age of two months, 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 are already hunting with her. The whole family hides the prey, but the female makes the decisive throw. The animals go on to an independent solitary life by the beginning of next spring.

Life span

They live in captivity for up to 20 years, in nature - less.

Irbises 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 collection of the zoo. There was a time when there were eight snow leopards on the Cat Lane. Workers of the section achieved regular breeding in these inhabitants of the snowy expanses, so many of the leopards exhibited at the zoo had their own breeding. For many years, a cat of the snow leopard named Olga, who was born at the Moscow Zoo in 1996, lived at the “Cat Row” exposition in the aviary between the Far Eastern leopard and the puma. She had kittens only once, but this honored grandmother had a very calm balanced character, was not at all afraid of visitors and sat for a long time near the grate. She lived for more than 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 had three kittens. From the first minutes, blue-eyed furry babies were surrounded by maternal care. In a secluded den in the interior, the female fed them milk, licked, carefully guarding from prying eyes. Even employees were not allowed to look at the kittens immediately. 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 on 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.

Irbis, like all predators in the zoo, is fed meat once a day. Various vitamin-mineral mixtures are necessarily added to it to maintain a balanced diet, periodically - hydroponic greens. One day a week, an irbis is necessarily unloading, when the cat does not receive food at all. With this diet, predators feel better, do not overeat.

It is difficult to call the snow leopard an aggressive beast, but even after living in captivity for a long time, it remains wild and is not tamed. Like the true inhabitants of the highlands living near the ice border, snow leopards do not tolerate heat. Therefore, in the summer, our cats often hide in the shade, and it can be difficult to see them.

Irbis or snow leopard, aka snow leopard - one of the most mysterious and least studied species of big cats. Studies have shown that the snow leopard has more in common with a tiger than with a leopard, and both species have a common ancestor.

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

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

The difficulty in observing and studying their lifestyle is explained by the inaccessibility of their habitats and the large territory that they usually occupy.

Irbises are able to jump to a distance of 15 m, helping themselves with their tail as a rudder.

Snow leopards, like most cats (except for lions), are single. In pairs, they are combined only during the mating season. Most active at dawn and dusk. In search of food they cross their hunting estates along certain routes. Irbis can even move in deep snow (up to 85 cm deep), but usually follows paths beaten by other animals.

The snow leopard preys on the territory of his choice, and desperately protects it in case other predators invade it. The area occupied by each snow leopard, depending on the terrain, ranges from 12 to 40 km2.

An Irbis can travel up to 40 miles in one night.

Irbis can jump a distance of 15 meters. surpassing even the puma, which jumps a maximum of 12 meters.

The snow leopard has thick grayish fur on its back and white or creamy white on its stomach. In some representatives of the species, the fur has a brown tint. The spots on the skin are black or dark brown. A distinctive feature of the appearance of the snow leopard is 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 a snow leopard is hungry, it can even climb into homes looking for food. Then his victims are domestic animals, cattle and poultry. In addition to meat, the snow leopard sometimes eats small branches and grass.

There are few snow leopards living in nature. In 1994, the population was estimated at 4,000 to 6,500 individuals. Today it is estimated 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;
Bhutan - 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.

Breeding

Snow leopards form pairs only for the mating season. Females give birth to kittens in caves or crevices of rocks, which are covered with moss and wool of the mother. Cubs have darker fur than their parents, which allows them to hide better among the rocks.

Snow Leopard Population Protection

Snow leopard is on the list of animals that are protected by the International Society for the Protection of Animals.

Sizes of snow leopards:

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

Do you know that …

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

It is almost impossible to meet this beast in the wild. And not just because snow leopard prefers snowy 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 a natural shelter under a stone. You can hardly distinguish it even with a few steps.

He is a “badger”

Usually this beast's name snow leopard or snow leopard. Russian merchants took the name “irbis” from the Turkic language, slightly changing it (in the Turkic language this cat is called “irbiz”).

In Tuva, his name is Irbish, in Semirechye - Ilbers, but, as you can see, it is difficult to mix up a snow leopard with anyone - even his many names in languages \u200b\u200bof different peoples sound almost the same. But as a species, it is quite possible to mix up this “badger”, which was done for a long time by various kinds of amateur zoologists.

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

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

While zoologists fought among themselves for the right to grant the snow leopard an honorable place in the pantheon of tigers or leopards, much more aggressive warriors - poachers - practically nullified the snow leopard tribe. An unusually beautiful skin of this animal is an expensive trophy for a poacher. Human greed leads to the fact that these big wild cats on our planet will soon not remain.

Universal disguise

Irbis is a rather large beast, about the size of a leopard, that's why they were confused for such a long time. It’s a little longer than a meter long, and this is not counting the chic tail. The snow cat's body is elongated, squat, on fairly short legs; small rounded ears are widely spaced, and a beautiful thick, fluffy and soft coat provides excellent protection from the cold.

The color of the snow leopard is gray with a smoky bloom, sometimes almost white. Black large annular and small solid spots are scattered throughout the body, which, again, externally makes him related to the leopard. On the tail there are incomplete transverse annular spots. 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

Snow leopard habitats 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 numbers, in any case, in 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 the Western Sayan Mountains (Mongun-Taiga), only four snow leopards live.

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

The most stable group lives in the Sayano-Shushensky biosphere reserve - there are about fifteen individuals there. In total, one hundred and fifty remained on Russian territory, with a maximum of two hundred snow leopards. Moreover, the number is decreasing every year.

What is happening in neighboring states is hard to say, but the wars that are hardly ending there contribute to the preservation of the local fauna.

For prey

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

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

Mountain goats, deer, roe deer, and reindeer serve as the basis for the feeding of snow leopards. 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 are hunted in two ways: they crawl to prey, skillfully disguise themselves, or overtake an approaching victim with huge leaps from an ambush.

But snow leopards never attack people, even when they are wounded. Only a few cases of attacks of these animals on humans 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 man accidentally intersect, then 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 is very calm to people next door. He can live side by side with hunters or herders, and they will not even suspect his presence.

Compromise

A conflict between a snow leopard and a man arises only if the snow leopard begins to run short 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 cease to feel safe. Therefore, in some areas, primarily in Tuva, shepherds often start hunting for snow leopards, motivating their actions by the need to protect livestock.

However, this problem is completely solvable. Firstly, one can adopt the practice of the Mongols. There is a special state structure that creates favorable conditions for cattle breeders who refuse to hunt the snow leopard: for the pet that died from the claws of the snow leopard, the state pays the shepherds compensation (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, Mongolian and Tuvan shepherd dogs. Unfortunately, these breeds are found almost less often than the snow leopard itself, but such protection, in any case, can be grown and trained. In this situation, the sheep will be intact, and the snow leopards will be full.

The most extreme, although the most reliable option for saving an 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 breed successfully in the Novosibirsk and Moscow zoos, and even work in the Leningrad zoo - they have security functions. After the close of the zoo, specially trained security guards patrol its territory with snow leopards on a leash.

But we 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. In appearance, it is similar to a leopard, but in size a little smaller. Because of their valuable fur, people hunted them en masse, after which they were listed in the Red Book of the World. Therefore, if you are lucky enough to see a snow leopard, then you are very lucky. Since each time the likelihood of meeting him sharply decreased.

The appearance of the snow leopard

The body length of the snow leopard with its tail is about two meters. Its weight is about 45-55 kg. Usually males are much larger than females. Outwardly, in the shape of the head and its physique, it resembles a domestic cat. The wide legs of the predator are strong, equipped with curved and sharp claws. Thanks to its paws, the snow leopard easily crosses 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 itself among the rocks in winter. Of the representatives of the cat family, this is the only animal that can jump from heights 15 meters down with a precision jewelry aiming.

Where does the snow leopard live?

Leopards are very secretive animals. They live alone in remote places, in rocky rocks 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 goes down to the valleys.

What do snow leopards eat and who hunt

For hunting, the snow leopard chooses the main time - twilight. In the afternoon, they bask in the sun or rest in the den. They always hunt alone, long pursuing their prey. Having killed their prey, they bring it into the dwelling and only then begins to eat food. At a time, they can eat up to 3 kg of meat.

Predators feed on cloven-hoofed animals, such as rams, goats, sheep, but also like a hare and even a mouse. If very hungry, they can go down to the valley and attack livestock.

How do snow leopards breed

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

See a selection of photos of the snow leopard:

   Irbis in a high jump.

   Mother and cub

   Photo: Angry Irbis

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

Video: Snow leopard attacks a bull yak (Snow leopard attacks bull yak)

Video: Afghanistan: Snow Leopard: WILD HD

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

In Tuva, his name is Irbish, in Semirechye - Ilbers, to the east of Alma-Ata in the border areas with China - Irviz, i.e. its many names in languages \u200b\u200bof different nations 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 related to the tiger.

Appearance

A relatively large cat. The body is very elongated and squat, slightly elevated in the sacral region. 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 against cold, harsh environmental conditions. According to the density of the fur, the snow leopard differs from all large 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 coat color on the back and upper part of the sides is light gray or grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating. Rare large, annular spots in the form of rosettes are scattered over the general light gray background, inside which there may be an even smaller spot, as well as small solid spots of black or dark gray color. 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 color 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. The smoky fur coating 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.

Snow leopard 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 snow leopard family occupied an area of \u200b\u200b8-12 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 breed, 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 the Western Sayan Mountains (Mongun-Taiga), only four snow leopards live.

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

Food, hunting

The main time for hunting an snow leopard is twilight. Snow leopards feed on artiodactyls (rams, goats, wild sheep, etc.), as well as mice and hares. Despite its attachment to home, the snow leopard can wander quite far in the search 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 is very calm to people next door. He can live side by side with hunters or herders, 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 run out of food, then it can easily switch to livestock.

Social behavior

Adult snow leopards are territorial animals that lead predominantly solitary lifestyles (but family groups are also found), although females raise kittens for a rather long period of time. Each snow leopard lives within the boundaries of a strictly defined individual territory. However, it does not aggressively protect the territory from other representatives of its species. The habitat of an adult male may overlap with individual habitats from one to three females.

Breeding

The mating season in March-April. The birth of cubs occurs once every 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 auditory canals and blind. Up to 4 months, kittens feed on breast milk. Feeding with meat begins at 2 months of age, and as early as six months, the kids go hunting with their mother. By the age of three, snow leopards reach puberty.

Security

Currently, the number of snow leopards is catastrophically small.

In all countries where the range is located, the snow leopard is under state protection, but poaching is still threatening it. The snow leopard is a rare, small, endangered species. It is listed in the IUCN Red List (2000) as “endangered” (highest security category EN C2A). In the Red Book of Mongolia (1997), the species is given the status “very rare”, in the Red Book of the Russian Federation (2001) - “Endangered Species at the Range Limit” (1 category).

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.