Panthera uncia

Snow leopard is a large cat with three subspecies. It is named after the fact that it often lives near the snow line and in the snow.

Snow leopards prefer to move at dawn and dusk, and are more active at night than during the day. The early morning and dusk are the peak of hunting and activity, especially at dusk. They are agile and alert, flexible, and good at jumping. They can jump down from a cliff 3-4 meters high; with a single jump, they can reach a maximum of 15 meters and a maximum of 6 meters. There are certain routes for them to go up and down the mountain. They like to walk along ridges and valleys, and often walk along the trampled trails. Snow leopards shed their fur twice a year.

Snow leopards usually live alone, and only live in pairs around the mating season. They usually have fixed nests, which are located in rock caves, recesses in rocks, cracks in rocks, or bushes under rocks. Most of them are on sunny slopes. They often do not leave a nest for several years. There are often a lot of snow leopard shed hair in the nest. When patrolling, they also use bushes or rocks as temporary resting places. They often use ambush or sneak attack methods to hunt, and often hide near the wild sheep activity area. Snow leopards can go without food for a week after eating a full meal.

Snow leopards are at the top of the plateau ecological food chain, and are also called "the barometer of the health of the high-altitude ecosystem." Snow leopards are the most representative species in Asia's high mountain and plateau regions. The international community is implementing an action plan to protect snow leopards, hoping to protect snow leopards well and thus protect the fauna and ecosystem of the entire high mountain region. In October 2018, the "China Snow Leopard Survey and Protection Status 2018" report jointly released by 19 conservation organizations, scientific research units and conservation institutions including Peking University, World Wildlife Fund, Shanshui Nature Conservation Center, Wolong National Nature Reserve Administration, and Northwest Plateau Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences showed that 60% of the global snow leopard habitat is located in China.

The reasons for the decline in the number of snow leopards are roughly as follows: human activities and economic development have led to the reduction of their habitats, and the habitats are scattered and patchy. Overgrazing has led to serious degradation of grasslands, and excessive livestock have squeezed the living space of wild ungulates, causing their numbers to decline significantly. Climate warming has caused the forest line to move up, and the suitable habitat of snow leopards has been compressed; the invasion of low-altitude carnivores such as leopards as they move up the forest line has further increased the survival pressure of snow leopards. Illegal poaching and retaliatory hunting directly affect and endanger the development of snow leopard populations. Illegal trade also threatens snow leopard populations in countries around the world. Snow leopard bones will be used as a substitute for tiger bones, and snow leopard fur itself is an expensive fur product.

The Convention on Endangered Species of Wild Animals and Plants (CITES) lists snow leopards as Appendix I species, prohibiting them from entering international trade. In 1980, the "Regulations on the Protection and Management of Wild Animals and Plants of the People's Republic of China" (Draft) formulated by the Chinese government listed snow leopards as Class II protected animals. In 1988, the "National Key Protected Wildlife List" officially promulgated it as a Class I protected object. A number of nature reserves have been established or planned in areas where snow leopards are distributed, such as: Dongdashan Nature Reserve (Gansu) and Taxkorgan Nature Reserve (Xinjiang). In 1992, China hosted the Seventh International Snow Leopard Academic Symposium, which played a positive role in promoting the protection and scientific research of snow leopards in China. The establishment of Sanjiangyuan National Park and Qilianshan National Park has played a key role in the protection of snow leopards.

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Snow leopards are a specialty of the mountains of Central Asia and South Asia. They are distributed along the main mountain ranges and avoid large areas of plains, so their distribution area is patchy; the distribution area is as wide as 1.23 million square kilometers, spanning 12 countries in Central Asia, and historically they have also been distributed in Myanmar. Specifically, they are distributed in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, Afghanistan, northern India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, and other places, as well as the high mountainous areas of Tibet, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and other provinces in China, such as the Himalayas, Hoh Xil Mountains, Gangdise Mountains, Tianshan Mountains, Pamir Plateau, Kunlun Mountains, Tanggula Mountains, Altai Mountains, Altun Mountains, Qilian Mountains, Helan Mountains, Yinshan Mountains, Ural Mountains, Hengduan Mountains, etc. There are occasional traces in the plains.
Snow le

The fur is fluffy, and the whole body is gray-white and covered with black spots. The black spots on the head are small and dense, and irregular black rings form on the back, sides of the body, and the outer edges of the limbs. The black rings become larger toward the back of the body. There are several small black spots in the black rings on the back and sides of the body, and the outer edges of the limbs are black. The inside of the ring is gray and white, with no black spots. Starting from the shoulders, the black spots form three lines on the back to the base of the tail. The black ring at the back is wide and large, and is most obvious at the end of the tail. The tip of the tail is black. The whole body of the cub is light rose purple; the black ring spots on its body are unclear and mixed with black and gray.
Compared with other animals of the genus Leopard, the snow leopard has a short snout, a high forehead, and a rounded head. The iris of the eye is yellow-green, and the pu