Tiger and snow leopard. Irbis, snow leopard. Snow leopard habitats

Hello friends! Guess the riddle:

Lives high in the mountains

This wild snow cat.

I am sure that you all understand perfectly well that this is a snow leopard. A predatory animal from the cat family. A relative of the tiger, panther and leopard.

This animal has other names. It is also called the snow leopard or irbis. The word “irbis” came to us from the Turkic language and means “snow cat”.

This predator is called the snowy one because of its beautiful light fur. Its fluffy, thick, warm coat is whitish-gray in color with dark ring-shaped spots, making it very similar to a leopard. And this coloring makes it almost invisible in its natural habitat. Where does he live?

Lesson plan:

Habitat

The snow leopard is a highland dweller. It lives in the high and rocky mountains of Central and Central Asia.

This beautiful cat can be found in countries such as:

Afghanistan;
China;
India;
Mongolia;
Nepal;
Pakistan, etc.

On the territory of Russia there is:

in the Krasnoyarsk Territory;
in the Republic of Tuva;
in Khakassia;
and in Altai.

The snow leopard makes its lair in caves or crevices. There he spends most of his time during the day. Resting, playing, relaxing. Well, at dawn or dusk the leopard goes hunting. Do you want to know who he's hunting? Then read on)

Hunting

As we already know, the snow leopard is a predator. It hunts ungulates such as:

mountain goats;
rams;
roe deer;
moose;
deer.

Sometimes he likes to feast on hares, partridges, marmots and other small animals.

In summer, the leopard adds plant foods to its diet, chewing grass and various leaves.

Snow leopards hunt mostly alone. They sit in ambush for a long time, watching their prey, and then overtake it with several powerful jumps. And the predator jumps simply wonderful: up to 6 meters in length and up to 2.5 - 3 meters in height. Then the leopard drags the prey to a secluded place and eats there quietly. Moreover, in order for a leopard to eat enough, 2-3 kg of meat is enough for him, so he does not finish eating, he simply abandons the prey and leaves.

The snow leopard loves to attack its prey from above, this makes it much easier for it to knock down a large animal and kill it. The hunt continues in the hot summer and snowy winter. And winter in the mountains is harsh, but the leopard is saved from the cold by his chic, warm fur coat with thick undercoat. And in general, nature created this predator in such a way that it feels comfortable in the snow.

What does a snow leopard look like?

The leopard is much smaller than such well-known predatory cats as the tiger or lion. The length of its body including its head reaches 130 cm. Height at the shoulders is 60 cm. The weight of males is 45-55 kg. Males are slightly larger than females. The head is round. The ears are small and rounded. The legs are short and strong. The paws are flat and wide, this helps the snow leopard move through deep snow and not fall into it.

But if the snow is loose, then the leopard cannot walk on it without falling through. Therefore, he often tramples paths in snowdrifts, which he uses to move around. And the leopard has to walk a lot. Once every few days he makes a tour of his hunting grounds.

The snow leopard also has a beautiful, long, fluffy tail. The length of the tail can reach 1 meter. The tail helps the leopard make precise maneuvers during the hunt. That is, turn in the right direction in time. And little leopards also love to “hunt” on their mother’s gorgeous tail. They play with it when they are in the den with their mother.

Offspring

To give birth to cubs, the female makes a den in the most inaccessible and hidden places. Leopard cubs are born from April to June. Usually two to five young are born. They are born blind, but after 8 days the babies open their eyes and can see.

When the cubs are 5-6 months old, their mother begins to teach them to hunt. The whole family goes hunting, but the last decisive jump is made by the female. The mother has been raising her children for 2 years. And then they leave to live an independent life. A life full of dangers.

Snow leopard's enemy

In nature, the snow leopard has no enemies. However, the leopard is in serious danger. And this danger comes from humans. It is man who is the most terrible, strong and cruel enemy of this beautiful predator. Despite the fact that leopards live in very inaccessible places, poachers kill them. They need beautiful fur, which is very expensive.

The snow leopard is afraid of people. There are only two known cases of a predator attacking a person. The first happened in 1940. Near Almaty, a leopard attacked two people and seriously injured them; as it turned out, he suffered from rabies. And in the second case, a very old, toothless, emaciated and hungry leopard jumped on a man from a cliff.

Today, only about 7,000 individuals are known to live in nature. Another 2,000 live in zoos around the world.

Snow leopards are listed in the Red Book and they need our protection. There is even a “Snow Leopard Day” in the environmental calendar; it has been celebrated since 2010 in Altai on May 26. You can read about other environmental holidays.

10 interesting facts about the snow leopard

Oh yes, I have also prepared a wonderful video for you that will give you the opportunity to see the snow leopard with your own eyes.

I wish you success in your studies!

Evgenia Klimkovich.

In the old days, we called a leopard a leopard. But Snow Leopard not a leopard, although it looks like one. The same black spots on the smoky gray skin (sometimes there are also black leopards). But the fur is long and fluffy, especially on the belly, up to twelve centimeters long. The leopard is a resident of the mountains (Altai, Pamir, Tien Shan, Tibet, the Himalayas and the highlands of Mongolia). High mountains - up to two to three thousand meters. And in the summer, following the mountain ungulates, leopards rise even higher - up to six thousand meters. As you know, in the mountains it is not hot in summer, but in winter it is completely cool.

The main coat color is light gray, appearing white in contrast to the black spots. This coloring perfectly camouflages the animal in its natural habitat - among dark rocks, stones, white snow and ice. The spots are shaped like rosettes, inside which there may be an even smaller spot. In this respect, the snow leopard is similar to the jaguar. In the area of the head, neck and limbs, the rosettes turn into black strokes. The coat is very thick and long (up to 55 mm) and serves as protection from the cold in harsh climatic conditions. From head to tail, the snow leopard measures 140 cm, the tail itself is 90-100 cm long. If we compare the length of the tail and body, then of all the cats the snow leopard has the longest tail, it makes up more than three-quarters of the body length. The snow leopard's tail serves as a balance when jumping. The length of the jump during hunting is up to 14-15 meters. The weight of an adult snow leopard can reach 100 kg.

Snow Leopard. Photo: Mark Kent

The leopard (or snow leopard, which is the same thing) watches for hours somewhere on a rock or under a rock for mountain turkeys or sheep. But in general, he is a universal hunter: he takes everyone - from mice to yaks sometimes. It does not bother people, and its disposition is apparently more good-natured than that of the panther and tiger.
Leopards love to play and roll in the snow. Having fun, they slide off the cliff on their backs, and at the bottom they quickly turn over and fall into a snowdrift on all four paws. Quite a sybarite. After the morning hunt, after the games, they settle down somewhere comfortable and bask in the sun.
The usual habitat is rhododendron bushes, and in some places alpine meadows and bare rocks near the borders of eternal snow. They live here in pairs - male and female.
They will give birth to two to four kittens in the spring. The lair is in a cozy crevice (sometimes in a vulture’s nest on a low tree!). The mother insulates the den with wool, having torn it from her belly. Other cats, except for the jungle cat, do not seem capable of such self-sacrifice. Leopards' milk is fatty and five times more nutritious than that of a cow. The leopard has a very long and very fluffy tail, like no other predator. We were surprised before; Why does an animal need these excesses? But it turned out that nature did not make any design mistakes here either. When a female leopard sleeps with her babies, she hugs them close to her and covers them with her tail, like a duvet. After all, where leopards live, it is very cool, especially at night.
The leopard is a good father and helps the female raise her children.
The old leopard weighs 75 kilograms, his large stature and other features are close to big cats, but he also has something of small cats. In a good mood, a leopard, for example, purrs (puma and clouded leopard too), but can also growl. Some zoologists call the clouded leopard, leopard and puma giant small cats.

The socio-economic crisis of recent decades in Russia has greatly influenced the nature and intensity of environmental management, which had a dual role for the snow leopard.

On the one hand, due to a reduction in the number of livestock and a decrease in pasture load, the number of the main prey of the snow leopard - the Siberian mountain goat and the Altai mountain sheep - has increased; on the other hand, as the well-being of residents deteriorated, exploitation increased significantly biological resources. The hunting grounds began to be actively used by people who had lost their jobs and who had mastered poaching methods of catching animals, in particular snare fishing, which poses a great danger to snow leopards. At the same time, snow leopard poaching has increased due to increased demand and high prices for skins.

Due to the inaccessibility of habitats and low density of the species, such species still remain poorly studied. the most important aspects biology of the snow leopard, such as the structure of the range, ability to disperse, seasonal movements, nutrition and hunting behavior (in particular, the degree of food specialization, including the composition and share of domestic animals in prey), population structure, numbers, sizes of individual areas, diurnal cycle and many others, which makes it difficult to develop adequate protection measures. This applies to the entire range of the species and especially its Russian part.

The snow leopard is brutally exterminated by poachers because of its beautiful skin. In almost all countries it is listed in the Red Book. Today, there are no more than 2,000 individuals of this beautiful predator left in the world.

The irbis, or snow leopard, hunts alone in the world's highest mountains.

Taxonomy

Russian name - snow leopard

English name - snow leopard

Latin name - uncia

Order - carnivores (Carnivora)

Family - cats (Felidae)

Genus - snow leopards (Uncia), has 1 species.

Conservation status of the species

The snow leopard is endangered and is listed in the IUCN Red List.

Species and man

The snow leopard has been persecuted by humans in the past because of its beautiful fur. Since 1952, it has been protected in India and the USSR. Currently, hunting it is prohibited everywhere.

Distribution and habitats

The snow leopard lives in the mountainous regions of Asia from Afghanistan to western China, in the Himalayas, Tibet, the mountains of Mongolia, and Altai. This is one of the highest mountain animals. In most areas in summer, the snow leopard stays near alpine meadows along the snow line at an altitude of 3500–4000 m, in the Himalayas – up to 5500–6000 m. In winter, following the ungulates, it descends to 1800 m, and in the Dzhungar Alatau – to 600 m. Everywhere it selects areas where small open plateaus and narrow valleys alternate with steep gorges and piles of rocks.

Appearance and morphology

The snow leopard's body length is 110–125 cm, weight 20–40 kg. If we compare the length of the tail and body, then of all the cats the snow leopard has the longest tail, it makes up more than three-quarters of the body length. The general color tone of the back and sides of the body is grayish-smoky, sometimes slightly yellowish. Against this background there are dark spots with blurred outlines - large ring-shaped and small solid ones. On a small head there are short, wide-set ears and large, high-set eyes. The fur of the animal is very thick, lush and soft. Thick fur grows even between the toes and protects the paw pads from cold in winter and from hot stones in summer.

Snow leopard hunts alone in the world's highest mountains

Lifestyle and social behavior

Animals live alone. They mark their areas with scratch marks and scent marks. The home ranges of males may partially overlap with areas of 1–3 females.

Nutrition and feeding behavior

The basis of the snow leopard's diet is large ungulates: the Siberian mountain goat, argali. In the foothills, the snow leopard hunts roe deer and wild boar. Throughout its huge hunting area (up to 100 sq. km), the predator moves, adhering to the same routes, bypassing the pastures of potential victims known to it. Like other high-mountain animals, the snow leopard makes regular seasonal vertical migrations: in the summer it follows ungulates to high-mountain alpine meadows; in spring - into the forest belt; after heavy snowfalls it descends to the foothill plains.

In alpine meadows and rock outcrops, the snow leopard, in addition to ungulates, catches marmots and ground squirrels, snowcocks and chukars. The leopard silently creeps up to its victim and suddenly jumps on it. He can jump up to 10 meters in length and up to 3 meters in height. Having not caught the prey immediately, it stops pursuing after several jumps. Having killed a large animal, the predator drags it under a rock or tree and begins to eat. At one time he eats only 2-3 kg of meat, and throws away the abundant leftovers of the meal and never returns to them.

Vocalization

Snow leopards do not emit a loud calling roar, characteristic of large cats, but purr like small ones. During the rut, animals make sounds similar to a bass meow.

Reproduction and raising offspring

The snow leopard's rut occurs in March - May. The male meets the female only at this time and subsequently does not take part in raising children. After three months, 2–4 kittens are born in a den that the female makes in a cave or in a crevice in a hard-to-reach gorge. Newborns are the size of a small domestic cat, completely helpless, covered with thick brownish fur, mottled with dark solid spots. They open their eyes at the age of one and a half weeks. At the age of two months, kittens begin to leave the den to play at its entrance, from this time the mother gives them meat food. At the age of 3 months, cubs begin to follow their mother, and five- to six-month-old ones already hunt with her. The entire family steals the prey, but the female makes the decisive throw. The animals begin an independent solitary life at the beginning of next spring.

Lifespan

In captivity they live up to 20 years, in nature - less.

Snow leopards have been kept in the Moscow Zoo for over a hundred years. The first snow leopard appeared on display in 1901. This was a gift from the Honorary Trustee of the Zoological Garden K.K. Ushakov. Since then, the zoo's collection has seen more than one generation of these amazing cats. There was a time when eight snow leopards were kept on “Cat Row”. The workers of the section achieved regular reproduction among these inhabitants of the snowy expanses, so many of the leopards exhibited at the zoo were of their own breeding. For many years, at the “Cat Row” exhibition, in the enclosure between the Far Eastern leopard and the puma, there lived a female snow leopard named Olga, who was born at the Moscow Zoo in 1996. She had kittens only once, but this honored grandmother had a very calm, balanced character, was not at all afraid of visitors and sat near the bars for a long time. She lived for more than 20 years and died at the end of January 2017.

Besides her, we now have three more cats – two males and a female. In 2013, she gave birth to three kittens. Blue-eyed furry babies were surrounded by maternal care from the first minutes. In a secluded den in the interior, the female fed them milk and licked them, carefully protecting them from prying eyes. Even the employees were not allowed to look at the kittens right away. As soon as the babies could be taken away from their mother, who stopped feeding them, they moved to a new place of residence, each to their own. Some - to Finland, to the homeland of their father, one of our two males, some - to conquer the inhabitants of France with their beauty, the third - to Hungary.

The snow leopard, like all predators in the zoo, is fed meat once a day. Various vitamin and mineral mixtures must be added to it to maintain a balanced diet, and hydroponic greens are periodically added. One day a week the snow leopard always has a fasting day, when the cat does not receive food at all. With this diet, predators feel better and do not overeat.

The snow leopard can hardly be called an aggressive animal, but even after living in captivity for a long time, it remains wild and is not tamed. As true inhabitants of the highlands, living near the edge of the ice, snow leopards do not tolerate heat well. Therefore, in the summer, our cats often hide in the shade, and it can be difficult to see them.

Usually this animal is called a snow leopard or snow leopard. Russian merchants took the name “irbis” from the Turkic language, slightly changing it (in the Turkic language this cat is called “irbiz”).

In Tuva it is called irbish, in Semirechye - ilbers, to the east of Alma-Ata in the areas bordering China - irviz, i.e. its many names in languages different nations they sound almost the same.

For a long time, the snow leopard was considered a relative of the leopard, but when genetic studies were carried out, it turned out that the snow leopard is most closely related to the tiger.

Appearance

Relatively large cat. The body is very elongated and squat, slightly raised in the sacrum area. The length of the body with the head is 103-130 cm, the length of the tail itself is 90-105 cm. Height at the shoulders is about 60 cm. Males are slightly larger than females. The body weight of males reaches 45-55 kg, females - 22-40 kg.

The coat is tall, very thick and soft. It provides protection from cold, harsh environmental conditions. In terms of the thickness of its fur, the snow leopard differs from all big cats and is more similar to small ones.

The general background color of the fur is brownish-gray without any admixtures of yellow and red. The main color of the coat on the back and upper parts of the sides is light gray or grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating. Scattered across the general light gray background are rare large ring-shaped spots in the shape of rosettes, inside of which there may be an even smaller spot, as well as small solid spots of black or dark gray. The general color of the main background of winter fur is very light, grayish, almost white, with a smoky coating, more noticeable along the back and along the top of the sides. This coloring perfectly camouflages the animal in its natural habitat - among dark rocks, stones, white snow and ice. The general background of summer fur is characterized by a lighter, almost white color and sharp outlines of dark spots. The smoky coating of fur is less pronounced in summer than in winter.

The snow leopard, unlike other big cats, cannot roar. “Purring” occurs both during inhalation and exhalation - just like in small cats.

Snow leopard habitat

The snow leopard's habitat covers the territory of 13 countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan, India, Burma, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan. Animals prefer life on the slopes of gorges, high in the mountains up to 5 thousand above sea level. Therefore, snow leopards are considered exclusively mountain predators.

Previously, a family of snow leopards occupied an area of 8-12 square meters. km., today it has quadrupled due to a catastrophic decrease in the number of animals.

It would seem that the area is large enough - live and reproduce, but... the numbers show the opposite. For example: in Khakassia there are only five to seven individuals; the same amount - on the Ukok plateau; At the junction of Altai and the Western Sayans (Mongun-Taiga), only four snow leopards live.

The largest and least studied group of snow leopards lives on the North and South Chuysky ridges - there scientists counted about thirty to forty individuals.

The most stable group lives in Sayano-Shushenskoye biosphere reserve- There are about fifteen individuals there. In general, there are one hundred and fifty, or at most two hundred, snow leopards left on Russian territory. Moreover, the number decreases every year.

Food, hunting

The main time for snow leopard hunting is twilight. Snow leopards feed on artiodactyls (rams, goats, wild sheep, etc.), as well as mice and hares. Despite its attachment to home, the snow leopard can wander quite far in the process of searching for prey. At one time, an adult snow leopard can eat 2-3 kg of meat.

But snow leopards never attack people, even when wounded. The snow leopard is very calm about being close to people. He can live side by side with hunters or herders, and they will not even suspect his presence.

A conflict between a snow leopard and a person arises only if the snow leopard begins to lack food, then it can easily switch to livestock.

Social behavior

Adult snow leopards are territorial animals, leading a predominantly solitary lifestyle (but family groups are also found), although females raise kittens for quite a long period of time. Each snow leopard lives within the boundaries of a strictly defined individual territory. However, it does not aggressively defend its territory from other members of its species. The habitat of an adult male can be overlapped by individual habitats of one to three females.

Reproduction

The mating season is in March-April. The birth of cubs occurs once every two years. The pregnancy of a female snow leopard is about 100 days. From 1 to 5 cubs are born. Newborns weigh about 500g and are born with closed ear canals and blind. Until 4 months, kittens feed on their mother's milk. Complementary feeding with meat begins at 2 months of age, and at six months the babies go hunting with their mother. By the age of three, snow leopards reach sexual maturity.

Security

Currently, the number of snow leopards is catastrophically low.

In all countries where the range is located, the snow leopard is under state protection, but poaching still threatens it. The snow leopard is a rare, small and endangered species. Listed on the IUCN Red List (2000) as “endangered” (highest conservation category EN C2A). In the Red Book of Mongolia (1997), the species was given the status of “very rare”; in the Red Book Russian Federation(2001) - “endangered species at the limit of its range” (category 1).

Titles: snow leopard, snow leopard, snow leopard.
Irbis, from the Turkic dialect "irbiz", which meant "snow cat".

Area: mountains of Altai, Pamir, Tien Shan, Tibet, Himalayas, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, China.

Description: The snow leopard's fur is long (up to 12 cm long), fluffy, with a thick undercoat. The head is small. The pupils are round. The tail is long (it accounts for up to 3/7 of the total length), covered with thick fluffy hair. The female uses it to warm her kittens. Males are larger and more massive than females.

Color: general background the body is whitish-gray (sometimes with a yellowish tinge), which perfectly camouflages the leopard from enemies and its victims. There are many small black spots on the head. On the body the spots are black-gray or black in the form of rings. Belly and inner part legs - white.

Size: body length 1.2-1.5 m, tail - 80-100 cm, height at the shoulders (at the withers) - 60 cm.

Weight: male - 45-55 kg, female - 35-40 kg.

Lifespan: in nature up to 18-20 years, in captivity up to 28 years.

Habitat: adapted to harsh conditions climatic conditions- low-snow high-mountain alpine meadows and bare rocks at the borders of eternal snow, slopes of gorges, treeless highlands, stone placers (5000-6000 m above sea level).

Enemies: the main enemy is man. In hungry years, the snow leopard can compete for food with packs of wolves.

Food: The snow leopard hunts mountain goats and sheep, roe deer, wild boar, marmots, hares, ptarmigan, snowcocks, reindeer, moose and domestic yaks.

Behavior: Spends time in the shelter during daylight hours. The snow leopard rests in caves, rock crevices, and on low trees. Hunts at dusk and at night. Can make jumps up to 6 m in length. Vision and hearing are well developed. Loves to play and roll in the snow. After such games he rests and basks in the sun.
On average, it kills one large prey every 10-15 days and eats it for about 4 days.
When meeting a person, he tries to leave or hide.
Dense and fluffy fur on the paws helps the snow leopard run quickly through the snow and stay on the slopes of the mountains.
The trail of wild goats can migrate up to 600 km.

Social structure: The snow leopard leads a mostly solitary lifestyle.
An individual area is about 160 km 2 .

Reproduction: The female does not give birth every year. For childbirth, the female makes a warm den in deep caves, rock crevices or other places where the kittens will not be disturbed by enemies. The bottom is lined with undercoat and fur, which it pulls out. The male also takes part in raising the young. Parents do not always actively protect their offspring.

Breeding season/period: January March.

Puberty: for 2-3 years.

Pregnancy: lasts about 100 days.

Offspring: The female gives birth to 1-5 blind and deaf kittens (usually two). The weight of newborns does not exceed 500 g. Size with tail is up to 25 cm. The fur is gray-brown with spots and stripes.
Eyes open on day 5-6. At 10 days of age, kittens begin to crawl. The young leopards leave the den when they are two months old. Lactation lasts up to 4 months, but from two months the female begins to feed them with meat. At the end of lactation, kittens go hunting with their mother. Leopard cubs play a lot, especially love to hunt for their mother's tail.

Benefit/harm for humans: Snow leopard skin is highly prized. Previously, leopard fur coats in the USA cost up to 60 thousand dollars. Now leopards are also hunted for their bones, which are used in Chinese medicine.
It can be tamed, although it has a rather evil character.

Population/Conservation Status: Snow leopard throughout its range rare view, an endangered species. Listed in International IUCN Red List like an endangered species. The population size is no more than 2000 individuals.
The reasons for the decline in the population are depletion of the food supply, poaching, human development of mountain pastures, developing tourism, high market prices for the skin and entrails of leopards.
There are several subspecies of snow leopards, which differ from each other in color, size and spotting.