Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Snow Leopard
Asia - from southern Himalayas westward through Pakistan and north to the Russian mountain ranges.
The coat is luxuriantly dense and long (1 inch on body and 2 inches on tail, and almost 3 inches on underside). It is a pale gray with black spots arranged in open rings or rosettes. The ears are small and white with black edges; dark at the bases. The underparts are almost pure white. Its head is smaller than a leopard's. The body looks longer in relation to the head. The tail is about three feet long. Their feet are broad and thickly furred over the pads, acting as snow shoes.
Mating occurs in late winter or early spring. Gestation is 90-100 days with usually 2-4 cubs in a litter. The young are born in spring, remaining with the mother until the end of the first winter. The den is a cave or rocky cleft.In captivity, snow leopards in the more northern latitudes tend to have litters slightly earlier than those further south.
The coat is luxuriantly dense and long (1 inch on body and 2 inches on tail, and almost 3 inches on underside). It is a pale gray with black spots arranged in open rings or rosettes. The ears are small and white with black edges; dark at the bases. The underparts are almost pure white. Its head is smaller than a leopard's. The body looks longer in relation to the head. The tail is about three feet long. Their feet are broad and thickly furred over the pads, acting as snow shoes.
Mating occurs in late winter or early spring. Gestation is 90-100 days with usually 2-4 cubs in a litter. The young are born in spring, remaining with the mother until the end of the first winter. The den is a cave or rocky cleft.In captivity, snow leopards in the more northern latitudes tend to have litters slightly earlier than those further south.
# posted by saffron @ 2:53 AM 
