Snow leopards - diet
The diet of the snow leopard varies across its range and with the time of year, and is dependent on prey availability. Snow leopards prefer to ambush prey from above, using broken terrain to conceal their approach, and can leap as far as 14 meters (46 ft). Snow leopards have unique characteristics of adapting with its environmental changes in that they have thick furs, together with small ears that reduce the loss of heat. These types of snow leopards can stand at a length of 60 cm (24 inches). As a result, they are easily driven away from livestock, readily abandon their kills when threatened, and may not even defend themselves when attacked. Females are smaller than males, with a weight of 25 kg (55 lb). Schreber was the first one to pronounce snow leopard back in 1775 when he found it in the mountains of Iran and Turkmenistan. Other large animals eaten include various types of wild goats and sheep (such as markhors and urials ), other goat-like ruminants such as Himalayan tahr and gorals, plus deer, boars, and langur monkeys. However, snow leopards have not been reported to attack humans, and appear to be among the least aggressive of all the big cats. The estimated population of snow leopards is about 4,080 to 6,590. These types of leopards inhabit the area ranges from 3,350 m to 6,700 m (10,990 to 22,000 feet) in Central Asia. These wild animals are endemic to Central Asia. It is not averse to taking domestic livestock, which brings it into direct conflict with humans. Herders will kill snow leopards to prevent them from taking their animals.
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As compared to other cats—leopard is characterized by its slender body but it shows a tough body than cheetah. In summer, these types of leopards usually inhabit on the rocky and mountainous regions with an elevation of about 2,700 to 6,000 m (8,900 to 20,000 feet). They will actively pursue prey down steep mountainsides, using the momentum of their initial leap to chase animals for up to 300 metres (980 ft). While going through the snow leopard facts for kids we come to know that these wild animals have long been recognised as a member of genus Panthera. While unusual among most cats, snow leopards also eat a significant amount of vegetation, including grass and twigs. Leopards are carnivores and actively hunt their prey. In comparison to the tigers or other big cats, size of these animals is slightly smaller. Snow leopard belongs to the family of Pantherauncia or Uncia uncia and is considered to be the medium sized cat in the whole kingdom of Animalia. Like leopards, some other cats including jaguar, also shows Melanism. They are capable of killing animals three times their size but will readily take much smaller prey such as hares and birds. However, like all cats, they are opportunistic feeders, eating whatever meat they can find including carrion and domestic livestock. It is caused by a recessive gene, which deems to be more regular in leopard populations in forests, in Asia and in mountains. A North African leopard widely exists all throughout the range of leopards while other subspecies are relatively small or geographically isolated populations. Unlike other cats, these leopards have wide paws that help them in walking on snow. Some of the most interesting and unknown snow leopard facts for kids have been illustrated in this article. Smaller prey consists of marmots, woolly hares, pikas, various rodents, and birds such as the snow cock and chukar.
Snow leopards - diet video:
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the snow leopards diet
what is the snow leopards diet
