SNOW LEOPARDS: CHARACTERISTICS, HUNTING BEHAVIOR, PREY

SNOW LEOPARDS

Snow leopards are one of the world's rarest, most elusive and little studied large animals. They are generally very shy and well camouflaged, and hardly ever seen. Most encounters involve villagers looking for firewood or herding animals. The first photograph of one in the wild was taken in 1970 by the legendary zoologist George Schaller. Snow leopards prefer crags and ridges in steppe, rocky shrubs and open conifer forests at altitudes at around 3,500 (11,480 feet) to 5,000 meters (16,500 feet) but have been observed in mountains over 6000 meters (19,700 feet). In the winter they descend to lower elevations. [Source: Douglas Chadwick, National Geographic, June 2008]

Natalie Angier wrote in the New York Times, "To Americans, snow leopards are perhaps the most beloved members of the great cat club, the exclusive group that includes tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. Snow leopards retain the majesty and fluid, predatory elegance of the other big cats while incorporating touches of panda-esque cuteness, the incidental result of adaptations to the cold. [Source: Natalie Angier New York Times, July 25, 2011]

The snow leopards scientific name is Panthera uncia, sometimes Uncia uncia. They are called “shan” in Ladakh, “irbis” in Mongolia, and “barfano chita”—“snow cheetah”—in Urdu. Helen Freeman of the International Snow Leopard Trust was quoted in “Wild Cats of the World”: “We feel the spirit of the mountains. In the cat there is a freedom to roam a region that is rugged and wild and often defies you to put one foot in front of the other, let alone leap. And the animal lives there, not with destruction, but with beauty.”

The average lifespan of snow leopards in captivity is 18 years, with a a high of 21 years. Their extremely reclusive nature makes it very difficult to accurately determine their average lifespan in the wild. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Conservation Organizations: The Snow Leopard Conservancy is headed by Rodney Jackson. The Seattle-based International Snow Leopard Trust is headed by Helen Freeman Good Websites and Sources: Snow Leopard Trust snowleopard.org ; Snow Leopard Conservancy snowleopardconservancy.org ; China.org article on Tibetan animals china.org.cn ;Animal Info animalinfo.org/country/china; Film: “The Velvet Queen” (2021), a documentary by Marie Amiguet has some footage of snow leopards but is mainly about the quest to find the animal and ideas and philosophies that go along with that quest.

Snow Leopard Habitat and Where They Are Found

Snow leopard range

Snow leopards are sparsely distributed across a large geographic range of high mountains, alpine meadows and scrubland in a dozen countries in south and central Asia. They range across 2.3 million square kilometers (880,000 square miles) in portions of some of the world’s greatest mountain ranges: the Himalayas, Karakorum, Kunlun, Hindu Kush, Pamirs, Tian Shan and the Altai between Russia and Mongolia and the Sayan chain west of Lake Baikal. Most of their range is severely fragmented. They favor steep, rocky slopes and alpine steppes above tree line. Their tracks have been found at altitudes higher than 6,000 meters (19,700 feet). They have been seen in Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Tibet, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and Russia.

Snow leopards range from the Himalayas in the south to southern Russia and western Mongolia in the north but 60 percent of their range occurs in China, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet autonomous regions, but also in the Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. They generally avoid dense forest cover and cultivated fields, but are associated with open coniferous forest, as well as arid and semi-arid shrubland, grassland, alpine meadows and barren habitats. /=[Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopards are mostly found at elevations of 3,000 and 4,500 meters (9,842 to 14,763 feet) although they do occasionally go as high as 5,500 meters (18,000 feet). In the winter they may migrate to lower elevations of 900 meters, Their preferred bedding areas are in steep, rocky and broken terrain, ideally near a landform edge close to natural vegetation. Cliffs and major ridgelines are sought out for daytime resting. Snow leopards live in both alpine and subalpine zones, following their preferred prey.

Snow Leopard Numbers

There are perhaps more than 10,000 snow leopards worldwide, living on about 3.1 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) of remote, rugged mountain terrain in 12 countries. According to Snow Leopards, a 644-page compendium on snow leopard science and conservation published in June 2016 there are about 4,700 and 8,700 snow leopards across 44 percent of the species’ range, compared with earlier projections of around 3,900 to 7,500 animals in total. There was not enough information available to estimate the leopard’s numbers throughout their mountainous habitat, said Peter Zahler, the coordinator of the snow leopard program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, who coauthored the Snow Leopards chapter containing the population estimate. “As scientists, we know what we know, and we have not looked at the quality of those other areas, the other 56 percent,” he said. [Source: TakePart.com July 12, 2016]

right Snow Leopard Population by Country
Afghanistan — 50 to 200
Bhutan — 134
China — 4,500
India — 718
Kazakhstan — 100 to 120
Kyrgyzstan — 300 to 400
Mongolia — 1,000
Nepal — 301 to 400
Pakistan — 250 to 420
Russia — 70 to 90
Tajikistan — 250 to 280
Uzbekistan — 30 to 120
All the estimates from 2016, except Bhutan and India from 2023, 2024[Source: Wikipedia]

Researchers estimated in the 2000s that the population of snow leopards had fallen by at least 20 percent since the early 1990s. B ut Dr. Schaller said, “those figures are just wild guesses.” The number today is thought to be half the number as a century ago. The largest numbers are thought to be in China and Tibet, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. There are an estimated be 800 to 1,700 in Mongolia. In five of the 12 countries in which they reside there may be fewer than 200 left.

Snow Leopard Characteristics and Evolution

Snow leopards are smaller than common leopards. They are generally are 1 meter to 1.3 meters (39 inches to 49 inches) in length excluding their tail .Adults weigh between 25 and 55 kilograms (80 and 120 pounds). An average snow leopard stands about 60 centimeters (two feet) at the shoulder, weighs about 45 kilograms (100 pounds) and is about 2.8 meters (nine feet) long including its tail. Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: The sexes look alike but males are larger. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopards' tails are 80 to 100 centimeters (31 to 39 inches) in length, roughly equivalent to 75 percent to 90 percent of their head and body length. Their tail is thick and mobile and seems to have a life of its own. Snow leopards sometimes use their tails to send messages during social encounters and wrap it around themselves like a scarf to stay warm in the middle of winter. The tail’s greatest benefit perhaps is providing balance in an environment where 1,000 meter drops are not uncommon.

Natalie Angier wrote in the New York Times, "A male snow leopard rarely exceeds the size of a big pet dog...Despite their name, they are not leopards or, according to genetic analysis, particularly close relatives of leopards. according to research by William Murphy and Brian Davis of Texas A&M University published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution. The snow leopard’s closest relative is the tiger.

Based on the phylogenetic analysis of the DNA sequence sampled of numerous living Felidae (cat species, snow leopards forms a sister group of tiger. The genetic divergence time of this group is estimated at 4.62 to 1.82 million years ago. Snow leopards and tigers probably diverged between 3.7 to 2.7 million years ago. Panthera (jaguars, leopards, lions, snow leopards and tigers) most likely originated in northern Central Asia. Panthera blytheae excavated in western Tibet's Ngari Prefecture has been described the oldest known Panthera species and exhibits skull characteristics similar to those of snow leopards. The mitochondrial genomes of the snow leopard, the leopard and the lion are more similar to each other than their nuclear genomes, indicating that their ancestors hybridised at some point in their evolution. [Source: Wikipedia]

Snow leopards havespots like leopards found in Africa and southern Asia but unlike these leopards they have thick white fur and fewer spots and the spots are arranged in distinct rows that in some cases continue down the tail. The base fur color of snow leopards can range anywhere from light gray to smokey gray to creamy-yellow, with a white tint generally found on the underbody. The entire body is covered with greyish black spots and rosettes. Rosettes are rings encircling smaller spots and are only found on the body and tail. Solid spots are found on the head, neck and lower limbs. Juvenile snow leopards have longitudinal black stripes across the middle of their back extending from the base of their head to their tail. As they grow largerand mature, these stripes break up into large spots forming two lateral rows of elongated rings along the center of the back. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

According to Animal Diversity Web: Distinguishable skull features from other large felids are: an overall shortness of the skull, an elevation of the frontal area, more rounded orbits, longer postorbital and zygomatic processes, longer and smaller infraorbital (below the eye sockets) foraman, wider mesopterygoid fossa (shallow, depressed area on a bone), flatter osseous bullae, and a marked shortness of palate. In males, the mean anteroposterior width of the upper canine at alveolus is slightly larger than in the females. However, the mean lateromedial width across postorbital constriction and across braincase is slightly larger in females. The dental formula of adult snow leopards is I 3/3, C 1/1, P 3/2, meters 1/1. /=\

Proposed cladograms for Panthera; The upper one is based on two studies published in 2006 and 2009; the lower one is based on studies published in 2010 and 2011

Snow Leopard Fur and Adaptions to Their Cold, Mountain Habitat

Snow leopards live as high as 18,000 feet and endure winters in some of the world’s coldest places. For protection against the cold they have long hair with thick underfur, wide, well-padded paws and a big chest and strong lungs that allow them to keep running even when the air is very thin. Snow leopards have short, powerful forelimbs and strong chest muscles that are ideal for climbing and making quick dashes through rugged terrain. They have wide, fur-cushioned paws that allow them to get firm grips or rocks on cliffs and steep slopes and act like snowshoes on soft snow and allow them to move easily and silently over the snow. Long, muscular hind legs enable snow leopards to leap seven times their own body length An unusually long, broad tail serves as both a balance pole for leaping and a wrap-around face muff for sleeping.

Snow leopards have long, thick fur that keeps them warm in cold weather. They are well camouflaged. While common leopards found in Asia and Africa tend to use branches and leaves to hid themselves, snow leopards lose themselves among stones, dirt and snow. Sometimes their moving tail is the only thing that gives them away. Like almost all mammals snow leopards are endothermic (use their metabolism to generate heat and regulate body temperature independent of the temperatures around them), warm-blooded (homoiothermic, have a constant body temperature, usually higher than the temperature of their surroundings). [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopards molt twice per year, producing a longer and thicker coat during the winter when the fur is 30 to 55 millimeters on the back, five centimeters on the sides, six centimeters on the tail, and up to 12 centimeters on the belly. In the summer, fur length is roughly 25 millimeters on the sides of the snow leopard, and roughly 5 centimeters on the belly and tail. In addition to thick fur, snow leopards have small rounded ears and large nasal cavities that help to minimize heat loss. /=\

In comparison to other closely related felids, snow leopards have much larger nasal cavities, smaller and broader heads relative to their body size and extremely large paws, which are an adaptation for walking on snow. The front paws are slightly larger than the hind paws, with an average footpad size of nine to 10 centimeters in length and seven to eight centimeters in width. Snow leopards also have relatively long hind legs that are adapted for increased agility and jumping ability in their rugged habitat. /=\

Snow Leopard Behavior

Snow leopard with a gray marmot in Kyrgyzstan in an image caught by a research camera

Snow leopards are cursorial (with limbs adapted to running), terricolous (live on the ground), crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary), nomadic (move from place to place, generally within a well-defined range) and solitary. In western Nepal, in an area of high prey density, their the average home range size is 12 to 39 square kilometers. However when the large amount of topographic relief, the actual home range size is probably 20 to 30 percent larger. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Perhaps less is known about snow leopards than any other popular, large land mammal. Much of what is known about them has been determined from observing captive animals. As a rule, snow leopards are temperamentally calm and low-key. Snow leopards rub, scratch, urinate and defecate to mark their territories. They frequently mark their territories by urinating on boulders and trees along ridge lines and stream beds that define the edges of their territories, often selecting features that stand out to human eyes such as large boulders, overhangs rocks, knolls, saddles. When trees are around snow leopards sometimes make long, vertical claw marks on tree trunks. Marking occurs more frequently during breeding season. Snow leopards mark specific trees or surfaces in travel lanes to ensure that other snow leopards do not venture into their home area. Frequently used marking spots have a shiny, oily sheen.

Snow leopard urine produces an acrid smell. The spray from their anal gland has a musky aroma. The primary purpose of the markings is to warn other snow leopards to keep away except during the mating season when it is meant to attract members of the opposite sex. Passing cats sometimes rub their faces on the spots, leaving some of their fur behind.

Snow leopards are essentially solitary animals, associating with other leopards only during the mating season or when females are with young. Even so they do share each other’s home ranges. Snow leopards that share a home range maintain a distance of roughly two kilometers from the nearest other individual. They actively avoid one another by marking travel lanes with scrapes, feces and pungent scent sprays, which discloses details about the sex and reproductive status of individuals. Snow leopard males are intolerant of member of their own species males, suggesting that they are territorial (defend an area within the home range). /=\

Snow Leopard Movements

Snow leopards are also highly mobile and often on the move. They move from one location to another on a daily basis and shift their bedding site multiple times during a day and sleep in different spots nearly every night. Generally, snow leopards remain in one specific area of their home range for several weeks before relocating to another part of their home range. The rarity of sightings of snow leopards in the wild suggests that they reduce their activity around areas where humans are present. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

snow leopard walking on snow

Snow leopards are most active in the early morning, late afternoon and evening, when the changing light makes them particularly hard to see. They prefer steep terrain and cliffs that they can use to spot prey. Snow leopards' large paws and elongated hind legs give them the ability of snow leopards to make extraordinary jumps and climb and descend on steep slops and cliffs. Chinese scientists say are mainly nocturnal and often move along relatively fixed paths. They prefer to rest upon elevated structures, especially when they are kept in captivity.

Snow leopards tend to follow low ridge lines or the bases of cliffs. It was long thought their range was limited to areas of five to fourteen square miles but now appears they cover more ground than that. One snow leopard radio collared in Mongolia in 1996 was found to have a range of 386 square miles. Another collared in Pakistan in 2007 had a range of 115 square miles and occasionally ventured into Afghanistan.

Snow leopards move very quietly. Their broad paws with extra fur between the toes not only keeps snow leopards warm but also allows them to track their prey very quietly and swiftly. Raghunandan Singh Chundawat, an Indian biologist who studied snow leopards for years told National Geographic they move “like snow slipping of a ledge as it melts...You almost have to turn away for a minute t to tell if the animal is going anywhere. If it knocks a stone loose, it will reach out a foot to stop it from falling and making noise.”

Snow Leopard Senses and Communication

Snow leopards sense and communicate with vision, touch, sound and chemicals usually detected by smelling. They also leave scent marks produced by special glands and placed so others can smell and taste them. The marking behavior of snow leopards is fairly extensive and includes spraying urine, scraping, head rubbing and claw raking on the trunks of trees. See Behavior Above. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopards' large eyes provide extraordinary low-light vision, allowing them to hunt in near total darkness. Snow leopards use tactile methods — such as rubbing their heads and necks against a social partner to express affection — to communicate and sometimes use their tails to express their mood and send messages during social encounters. They also communicate with facial expressions. For example, when they are being defensive they open their mandible quite wide and raise their lips to bare the canine teeth. When they are excited they open their mouth but do display their canines and the lips and nose scrunch up. /=\

Unlike other big cats, the vocal cords of snow leopards lack a certain kind of elastic fiber tissue iand thus they can’t make a roaring sound. They don't purr either but they do hiss, mew, chuff, growl and wail. Their vocalizations can sound remarkably similar to the yowl of a Siamese cat. They make a high pitched yowl when the leave their scent.

Snow leopards emit a high-pitched yowl, especially when females are in heat. This call allows females to alert males of their whereabouts and usually occurs in the late evening. Another vocalization is a nonaggressive “chuffing” that is emitted through the nostrils. The arrival of one snow leopard in the immediate proximity of another elicits this chuffing sound, and could be described as their means of greeting. Snow leopards emit high pitched yowling sounds to communicate and advertise their location./=\

Snow Leopard Food and Eating Behavior

Snow leopards are primarily carnivores (eat meat or animal parts) and mostly eat terrestrial mammals but also eat birds. They actively hunt their prey, but also opportunistic predators who will eat any kind of meat they can access to to ensure they fulfill their overall energy requirements. They are capable of killing animals more than three to four times their own weight but also readily settle for much smaller prey in times of need. Due to mainly over-hunting by humans the populations of wild ungulates preyed upon by snow leopards have sharply declined and the leoprads have been forced to prey on domestic livestock for food. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopards are at the top of the food chain in the places they inhabit. What they do and what happens to them has an impact on other animals as well as plants and ecosystems. Particularly important is the effect they have in scavengers such as foxes, lynx and wolves and on hoofed animals and their impact on plant communities they eat and walk on.

Applying DNA fingerprinting to snow leopard scat researchers have been able to determine what snow leopards eat. Among the Wakhan population in Afghanistan, snow leopards overwhelmingly stick to a diet of ibex, Marco Polo sheep and other natural prey. In Mongolia, by contrast, about 22 percent of the resident snow leopard intake consists of domestic sheep and goats.

Snow Leopard Prey

Snow leopards hunt a variety of animals that inhabit mountains and high elevations: blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), ibex (Capra ibex sibrica), markhors (Capra failconeri), argali sheep (Ovis ammon), urials (Ovis orientalis), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), goat-antelope serows (Mainland serow), gorals (Naemorhaedus goral), musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), wild boars (Sus scrofa), Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonf), Tibetan gazelles (Procapra picticaudata), goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa), wild donkeys (Equus hemionus), wild yaks (Bos grunninus), red deer and wild Bactrian camels.

Smaller prey include marmots (Marmota), hares (Lepus), pikas (Ochotona), voles (Microtus), mice and birds such as partridges and turkey-size snow cocks. If these animals are not available they will hunt sheep and goats and other domesticated animals. They sometimes eat mountain plants such as “Myricaria”, a tall, feathery shrub.

Snow leopard have been known to kill yaks and wild asses but mostly they hunt smaller prey such as wild goats and sheep, marmots, pikas, hares and birds. Bharal, a kind of Himalayan mountain goat, are a common target. The preferred prey of snow leopards in many places are blue sheep, preferably blue sheep lambs. The main hunting season is in June when blue sheep have new lambs. In the far northern frontier of Pakistan snow leopards often prey on ibex (wild goats). In Mongolia they often feed on marmots, where there are stories of leopards waving their tails to attract curious marmots, just as local hunters do with white rags.

Snow Leopards on the Hunt

Snow leopards tend to live in areas where there are few prey animals and range over a large area to find them. Radio-collar studies indicate they prefer to roam along the bases and crests of river bluffs and up and down stream canyons and ravines, following the seasonal migrations of their prey. During the winter they often retreat to the forests.

Snow leopards are ambush hunters that like to attack from above. Their preferred method of hunting is to stalk and then ambush their prey from above, using rocky terrain and shrubby vegetation to conceal themselves. Gary Ahlborn nearly saw a leopard make a kill in 1983. While gathering fire wood he say a male bharal come plunging down a steep slope with leopard behind in pursuit. Both animals were taking huge strides and traveling at top speed. After a hundred-yard chase the leopard drew within reach of the bharal. He lunged forward, catching the sheep on the left side of its rump and sending a cloud of fur into the air. The bharal veered sharply and ran off to safety.♪

Snow leopards are able to climb rocks and hunt quietly at the same time. They can spend up to a week pursuing an animal and have been known to kill bharal three time their size. The tracks of one kill showed a leopard riding a sheep until it was able to bring the sheep down. Raghunandan Singh Chundawat told National Geographic, “At a fresh carcass, you can tell if a snow leopard with young made the kill, The ear swill be gnawed off . Those are all the cubs can get at until [their mother] opens up the hide for them.” ♪

How strong are snow leopards? In October 1997, a snow leopard was killed by a jaguar at a zoo in Louisiana. Associated Press reported: “It was a cat fight with teeth and tragedy. A jaguar escaped from a cage and killed a rare snow leopard in another pen before officials at the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo were able to recapture it. Zoo director Jake Yelverton said a worker who was cleaning cages had rigged the cage door so it no longer closed and locked automatically. The big cat got loosebefore the zoo opened, and slashed the leg of the snow leopard before it was shot with tranquilizers. The snow leopardbled to death. “We couldn't get to her in time,'' Yelverton said. “We had to deal with a jaguar prior to dealing with the bleeding of the snow leopard.'' [Source: Associated Press, October 25, 1997]

Snow Leopard Mating and Reproduction

Snow leopards are polygynous (males have more than one female as a mate at one time) and experience sexually-induced ovulation (the release of a mature egg from the ovary by sexual intercourse). They engage in seasonal breeding — females breeding every second year, from January to April. The number of offspring ranges from one to five, with the average number being two. The gestation period ranges from 90 to 105 days. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopards are solitary and do not associate with mates unless it is mating season. Females mate every second year because of the long time spent rearing cubs. Although snow leopards are polygynous in the wild, some in captivity have become monogamous. Reproductive success is higher in areas where females can find secluded denning as well as a large abundance and availability of prey nearby.

Snow leopard breeding habits appear to be similar to other felines. In most cases, leopards mate in February and March in late winter. When females are in estrus, they make a continuous yowling sound that attracts males. There is also a significant increase in allogrooming (when one animal grooms another as a form of social interaction) and prusten (chuffing) by the female during this period. The female presents herself to the male by raising her tail and walking in front of him, ensuring her anal region is clearly visible. Copulation of snow leopards occurs in both ventral/dorsal and dorsal/dorsal postures, and the male generally grips the fur on the female’s neck as he is mounting her.

Snow Leopard Offspring and Parenting

Snow leopard cubs are usually born sometime between April and June. The average weaning age is five months and the average time to independence is one year. Females reach sexual or reproductive maturity at two to three years and males do so at three to four years. The only prolonged social contact between snow leopards occurs while females are raising their cubs. [Source: Leah Montsion, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

Snow leopard cubs are born in a rocky shelter, where the mother makes a warm nest of fur from her underbelly. At birth, cubs weigh 300 to 600 grams and are altricial. This means that they are born relatively underdeveloped and are unable to feed or care for themselves or move independently for a period of time after birth. The cubs do not open their eyes until they are about one week old, and are entirely dependent on their mother for the first year of their life.

Parental care is provided by females. Pre-weaning and pre-independence provisioning and protecting are done by females. There is an extended period of juvenile learning. Markings are more prominent on cubs than on adults. Lactation lasts for five-months but cubs are usually suckled for about two months after which time they start eating solid food. At three months they follow their mother around and stay with her for a year or more.

It is important for females to select a safe denning site for their young that is inaccessible and secure so they can hide their cubs from other carnivores while they searches for food. At about three months of age, the cubsbegin to learn basic survival skills and hunting techniques while accompanying their mother.

Image Sources: snow leopard images: WWF, Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, CNTO (China National Tourism Administration) David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated April 2025