The snow leopard lives in the mountainous regions of Central Asia. It has thick fur and a long tail to help it survive in cold, snowy climates. Its diet consists mainly of blue sheep and ibex, though it also eats smaller animals and plants. Major threats include poaching, loss of habitat, and lack of protection. Snow leopards give birth in the spring and mothers care for cubs until they are 18-22 months old.

1. Snow Leopard By Jacques Tucker

2. The Animal I Chose and Why I Chose it. I chose the Snow Leopard. I chose the Snow Leopard because its my 2nd favorite animal.

3. What Do They Look Like? They’re white, yellowish, or smoky-gray with spots and rosettes. It has fur all over its body and its tail is nearly as long has its body. The snow leopards shoulders are about 24in or 60cm tall. From their head to the tip of their tail is 6-7.5ft or 1.8-2.3m. When cubs are born they weigh .71- 1.56 lbs, gaining .11lbs everyday. Normally they weigh 77-121 lbs. A petite female weighs 55 lbs and a large male weighs 165 lbs. Males usually weigh 30% more than females.

4. What are its Classifications? Domain: Eukaryote- Has a membrane-bound nucleus Kingdom: Animalia- Multicellular, heterotrophic Phylum: Chordata- It has a spinal chord Class: Mammalia- Its has hair all over its body, warm blooded, feeds its offspring with milk from its body Order:Carnivora- Meat eater Family:Felidae- It’s a cat Genus: Panthera- Molecular studies show similarities Species: Uncia- Panthera unciais the scientific name for the snow leopard

5. Where do They Live? They Live in Central Asia. They Afganhanistan, Bhutan, China, Asia, Monogolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbehistan and 3 other places. They have cold snowy weather. They live in a cold and dry climate.

6. What do They Eat? Most Important Meal is Blue Sheep and Asiatic Ibex. Most commonly Eaten is sheep and goats. Eat marmots, pikas, hares, small rodents, and game birds like the Tibet a snowcock and chukor partridge. Their Carnivores. They kill large animal twice a month on average. They also eat plant material during the mating season.

7. Its Predators and Threats Poaching is an illegal hunting for the fur trade, and trade in bones for traditional Asian medicine. Loss of their pray Snow leopards can be kill by herders. Their lack of habitat- people moving in the snow leopards range causing them to have to become isolated. Lack of protection- Many of the protected areas are to small to even be a home for one snow leopard. Lack of awareness and support- the herders don’t know that the snow leopard is an important element of the ecosystem.

8. Adaptations Thick furry tail that can wrap around their body and face like a scarf. Long fur with wooly undergrowth. Enlarged nasal cavity so they can breath the mountain air. Their feet act like snow boats for them. Fur between their feet and prevent them from getting frostbite.

9. Summer The Snow Leopards follow the sheep and goats up the steep slopes. They use their tail to help them keep balance. During the summer its not snowy in the summer instead its dry. They can still blind in with the rocks around them to attack their prey.

10. Fall The snow leopard follows prey down the steep mountain slopes. Moving along with herd. Cubs born last year begin to start learning how to live life on their own and hunt. If they gave birth cubs start eating solid foods and begin to explore life outside the den.

11. Winter Harder for snow leopards to get food because it’s more likely for them to run into humans. Mating Season is January-March. Female wait at the top of a peak or ridgeline, telling the males that she is ready to mate. Males stay with female for about a week and then go back to solitary round. Cubs will be born in the spring or the early summer.

12. Spring Pregnant female look for protected shelter to give birth. Dens are mostly rocky caves lined up with mothers soft fur. Their pregnant for about 3- 3 1/2 months. Cubs are small and helpless when born and don’t open their eyes for about a week. They usually have 2-3 cubs a liter, very rare for a snow leopard to have 7 cubs in the wild because its hard to take care of all of them. For the 1st few months cubs stay in the den. Mothers come back to the den frequently so they can nurse the cubs. At around 2 months the cubs eat their 1st soild meal, late summer cubs start to follow the mother around high mountain slopes. Cubs stay with their mother until about 18-22 months old. They mate every other month, females who gave birth last spring are teaching their cubs to hunt.

13. I hope you enjoyed the show. Thank you for letting me have your undivided attention.