Here’s a guest post by Greg, but I have to weigh in at the start and say that snow leopards, are, I think, the most beautiful cats in the world next to tigers. –Professor Ceiling Cat
by Greg Mayer
Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are a species of large cat found in the mountains of Central Asia, where they are predators of sheep, goats, and other mammals and birds. They are listed as Endangered by the IUCN. Both the Bronx and Brookfield Zoos have recently had births of snow leopards, and made announcements almost at the same time.
The Bronx Zoo’s cub is older, born April 9, and first shown to the public this week. The New York Times has several great pictures, and it was hard to pick one– you should go look at them all! Ah, what the heck: I can’t pick just one. Here’s another:
Brookfield’s cub was born June 13, and its birth was just announced; it is not yet on exhibit. There are several great photos at Brookfield’s website. To give the Bronx and Brookfield equal treatment, here are two pix of the Brookfield cub.
Here’s the Bronx Zoo’s cub running around with its mother:
Both cubs were born through mating programs designed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan Program. (Here’s an old description of the snow leopard program, published originally in the sadly now-defunct Endangered Species Update). There are several groups that promote snow leopard conservation, including the IUCN, the Snow Leopard Trust, the Snow Leopard Network, the Snow Leopard Conservancy, and Panthera (see their brochure here).
Among cat species, snow leopards are the best adapted to high altitudes. They are long-haired, pale in color, and adept at moving on rocky slopes (and are sometimes hard to see!). [JAC: as you can see in the video above, they also have huge footpads that act like snowshoes, helping them move about on the snow.)
They are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Uncia, but they seem to fall phylogenetically well within the other big cats (Panthera), and their distinctive features reflect their high-altitude adaptations rather than a deeper separation in time from other felids.
In addition to being adapted to high altitudes, they are also unbearably adorable when young.
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Wei, L., X. Wu and Z. Jiang. 2009. The complete mitochondrial genome structure of snow leopard Panthera uncia. Molecular Biology Reports 36:871-878. pdf
I just saw one at the Denver Zoo today! I was quite happy to see just one new cub, but, knowing there are more zoo out there with cubs makes me very happy!!
Whoa. Look at those Bette Davis eyes!
You’re not kidding, look at the size of those feet! Amazingly beautiful animals.
If I could breed a domestic cat that looked as much like a snow leopard as the Somali does a puma, I’d be set for life.
There is some pretty stiff competition for the accolade ‘most beautiful cat in the world’ but snow leopards are certainly amongst the challengers.
Now that’s a purrty looking cat.
Beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_XRFqwt_Yg#t=58
Here are some cute and playful Pallas’s cats.. well, kittens.
Will never forget the planet earth images of snow leopards in the wild. Great article!
Oh my gosh that’s adorable!
The zoo near me, Twycross, has an amazing snow leopard enclosure that is built round the visitor centre. On sunny days you rarely see them (too hot for Himalayan kittehs!) but if you go on a foggy, cool day they are likely to be out and about. They had cubs last year.
My GF and I went in November and were sitting in the coffee shop when the female bounded across the pond and sat on a stone right next to us, smooshed up against the glass. She groomed herself all over and then, when she noticed us looking, she pawed the glass trying to make us do it back. It was obviously a game she had got used to playing with visitors. Then she curled up and nodded off.
If you can imagine sitting on one end of a sofa with a snow leopard at the other end, sleeping, that is how close we were to her. It was absolutely magical.
Those pictures are beyond cute!
Another fact of note about snow leopards is their amazing leaping prowess. At Brookfield, the exhibit is netted on all sides, because otherwise the leopards would just hop out and go walkabout. (Veteran employees say that this has happened in the past, even!)
Their long tail provides balance for the leaps, as well as working as a muffler in cold weather.
I did a project for a class to help raise awareness of the plight of the snow leopard with a group at the Alaska Zoo. With the help of the Snow Leopard Conservancy which provided some pamphlets we plotted down a tent just outside the snow leopard exhibit in the -7 degree weather. It was totally worth it, they are magnificent animals.
love this – thanks, Jerry. I tend to agree with you that they are the most beautiful of the cats (except maybe tigers) (& my Plushie!)
I always hate it when cute animals are also the bitey ones! 🙂 I want to kiss & kiss the snow leopard cubs!
Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle had new snow leopard cubs just last year:
http://www.zoo.org/snowleopardcubs#.Uh4_1D-u9Rs
Speaking of snow leopards, here’s a song I imagine might fit with your musical sensibilities.
http://grooveshark.com/s/Ballad+Of+The+Snow+Leopard+And+The+Tanqueray+Cowboy/23QE2P?src=5
In beauty competition, I think snow leopards win by a whisker over tigers. But just a whisker.
I too think snow leopards are breathtaking.
I highly recommend the book “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Mathiesson, even though the book is as much about a spiritual journey as it is about the author’s trek along with naturalist George Schaller to study snow leopards. Gorgeous writing.
Jerry,
Great post, but I’m curious how you reconcile this breeding program with your general anti-zoo stance. At least I gather you are anti-zoo from recent posts.
This post is by me, Greg Mayer, who along with Matthew Cobb, is one of the usual “pinch-bloggers” (Jerry’s term).
GCM
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Are the zoo Snow Leopard cubs hand raised, or raised by their mother?
In the Bronx, at least, by its mother, as is evident from the video.
GCM
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Reblogged this on Mark Solock Blog.
And when grown they have the most beautiful tails in the whole Kingdom of Cats!