The snow leopard is a rare and beautiful big cat that has adapted to life in a harsh and cold environment.
The patterned coat you see helps it blend in with the steep rocky sloped above the tree line in the Asian mountains.
Their fur is thick and dense which protects it from cold temperatures and covers its large paws helping grip slick surfaces.
Watch this awesome video below showing how the snow leopard cliff hunts:
Snow Leopards are shy, elusive cats known for their solitary nature.
The only times they aren’t solitary is during mating season, or when a mother is with her young cubs.
Once the cubs are around 2 years old, the begin to disperse from their mother and set out on their own.
They follow whats called a “crepuscular activity pattern” which means they are most active at dusk and dawn.
Their home ranges can cover hundreds of square kilometres and they are patrolled regularly.
Snow leopards have an interesting way of communicating, they do this by leaving markings on the landscape that other cats will find.
They scrape the ground with their hind legs and spray urine against rocks to mark their territory or to locate mates.
Snow leopards are not aggressive towards humans. There has never been a verified snow leopard attack on a human being.
Even if disturbed while feeding, a snow leopard is more likely to run away than try to defend the site.
They make sounds which are similar to other large cats such as purrs, mews, hiss and growls.
However snow leopards can’t roar, this is due to the physiology of their throat, instead, they make a non-aggressive puffing sound called a ‘chuff’.
