Snow Leopard Survival Strategy - Panthera

Other names:
Ounce (English); panthère des neiges, léopard des
neiges, once (French); Schnee Leopard, Irbis (German);
leopardo nivai, pantera de las nieves (Spanish); xue bao
(Chinese); palang-i-berfy (Dari: Afghanistan); bharal he,
barfani chita (Hindi, Urdu: India, Pakistan); shan (Ladakhi:
India); hi un chituwa (Nepal); Ikar (Pakistan); irbis,
irvis (Russia, Central Asian republics, Mongolia); snezhnai
bars (Russian); sarken (Tibetan); chen (Bhutan),
Sah (Tibetan).
Description:
The snow leopard exhibits superb camouflage for its
mountain environment of bare rocks and snow, being
whitish-grey (tinged with yellow) in color, and patterned
with dark grey rosettes and spots. Further adaptations
for high altitude life include an enlarged nasal cavity,
shortened limbs (adult shoulder height is about 60 cm),
well developed chest muscles (for climbing), long hair
with dense, woolly underfur (belly fur grows as long as
12 cm), and a tail up to one meter long, 75-90% of headbody
length (Hemmer 1972, Fox 1989, Jackson 1992).
Snow leopards molt twice a year, but the summer coat
differs little from the winter in density and length (Heptner
and Sludskii 1972). The long tail is thought to aid
balance, and snow leopards will wrap their tails around
themselves when lying or sitting for added warmth.
Males are larger than females, with average weights
between 45-55 kg as opposed to 35-40 kg for females
(Jackson 1992).
Ecology:
Snow leopards are generally solitary, although groups
of up to six snow leopards have been reported – presumably
these groups consist of a female and her nearly
independent young, and possibly a male. Mating usually
occurs between late January and mid–March, a time
of intensified social marking. These social markings
include scrapes, feces, scent sprays and claw rakings,
which are deposited along travel routes used by snow
leopards. One to five cubs are born after a gestation period
of 93 to 110 days, generally in June or July.
Snow leopards are closely associated with the alpine
and subalpine ecological zones, preferring broken, rocky
terrain with vegetation that is dominated by shrubs or
grasses. In the Sayan Mountains of Russia and parts of
the Tien Shan Range, they are found in open coniferous
forest, but they usually avoid dense forest. They generally
occur between elevations of 3,000 to 4,500 m, except
within their northern range limit where they are found at
lower elevations (900 to 2,500 m). Reports suggest that
they migrate to lower elevations during winter in northern
Pakistan, the Tien Shan Mountains, ranges in Russia,
and parts of India, following movements of their primary
prey species such as ibex and markhor. Snow leopards
prefer steep terrain broken by cliffs, ridges, gullies, and
rocky outcrops, although they may traverse relatively
gentle country, especially if ridges offer suitable travel
routes and shrubs or rock outcrops provide sufficient
cover. They show a strong preference for irregular slopes
in excess of 40° and well–defined landform edges, such
as ridgelines, bluffs and ravines, along which to travel
about their home range.
Home range size and shape is not well known. The
home range size of five snow leopards in prime habitat in
Nepal ranged from 12 to 39 km 2 , with substantial overlap
between individuals and sexes. In Mongolia, where food
resources may be scarcer, home ranges of both males and
females exceeded 400 km 2 . Individual cats often move
straight line distances of 1 to 2 km between consecutive
days, but are capable of periodic long–distance movement
in excess of 20 km in a single day. Typically, a
snow leopard remains within a relatively small area for 7
to 10 days, then shifts its activities to another relatively
distant part of its home range. A study in Nepal indicated
that 42–60% of home–range use occurred within
only 14–23% of the animal’s total home area, indicating
strong use of core areas, although this use was separated
temporally. Core areas were marked significantly more
than non–core sites suggesting that social marking plays
an important role in spacing individuals. Home ranges
overlap in other areas, as reported from Ladakh and
Mongolia.
Snow leopards are opportunistic predators capable of
killing prey up to three times their own weight (Schaller
1977, Jackson and Ahlborn 1988, Fox 1989), with the
exception of fully grown yak or wild ass. They will also
take small prey: in China’s Qinghai province, Schaller
et al. (1988a) found that 45% of their summer diet
consisted of marmots. In general, their most commonly
taken prey consists of wild sheep and goats (including
blue sheep, Asian ibex, markhor, and argali), but also includes
pikas, hares, and game birds (chukor partridge and
snowcocks) (Hemmer 1972, Heptner and Sludskii 1972,
Schaller 1977, Jackson 1979, Mallon 1984a, Schaller et
al. 1987, 1988a, Fox 1989). Jackson and Ahlborn (1984)
estimated a snow leopard’s annual prey requirements to
be about 20-30 adult blue sheep, while McCarthy (2000)
estimated 12–15 ibex would be taken in a year. Adult
snow leopards kill a large prey animal every 10-15 days,
and remained on the kill for an average of 3-4 days, and
sometimes up to a week.
Predation on livestock can be significant (Schaller
1977, Mallon 1984a, Fox and Chundawat 1988, 1991,
Schaller et at. 1988a,b, Chundawat and Rawat 1994, Oli
1994, Jackson et al. 1994), with stock losses on the Tibetan
Plateau averaging about 2% per village, but up to
9.5% in some «hotspots» (Jackson and Fox 1997a). Oli
et al. (1994) analyzed 213 scats of snow leopards living
around villages within Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation
Area, and found livestock remains in 17.8%. The proportion
increased to 39% in winter, probably in relation to
marmot hibernation, deep snow, and a tendency for yak
to be less widely dispersed at this time. Snow leopards in
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