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Today on Animal Fact Files, we’re talking about snow leopards. Don’t forget to pounce on that subscribe button if you enjoy the video, and thank you to Eli Haack for today’s request! Snow leopards are also known as ghosts of the mountain, and I’m sure you can guess why. Their dense fur is perfectly designed to help them blend in with their environments.

Snow leopards live in barren, arid, or open forest habitats sometimes more than three miles (4.8 kilometers) high in the mountains. The fancy rosette patterns along its back and tail can break up a snow leopard’s outline against a rocky cliff, giving it a well concealed vantage over its prey in a valley below.

Snow leopards mostly eat hooved animals such as wild sheep, ibex, and antelope, but they’ll also consume rodents, rabbits, and even birds if they can catch them. Snow leopards are crepuscular, meaning they generally hunt during the twilight hours of the day. Unlike their some other arctic carnivores we’ve previously discussed who hunt in packs, snow leopards are solitary meaning they have to depend on their stealth to bring down their prey all on their own. Though family groups of a mother and her current litter of cubs can be seen together, the only time adult snow leopards purposefully interact is during mating season.

In the wild, snow leopards breed during the winter. The females will give out loud calls to alert nearby males of their readiness to mate, and if a couple is successful, within about three months time, the female will give birth to a litter of one to five adorable cubs. The babies will spend the next eighteen or so months learning the ropes of mountain living alongside their mother, meaning it’s usually two years between litters for female snow leopards. This is important to note because, as of right now, snow leopards are threatened with extinction. Because snow leopards sometimes kill livestock, farmers will retaliate and kill the cats, but efforts are being made in the conversation community to help foster a better relationship between snow leopards and farmers of east and central Asia.

Though snow leopards are large felines weighing about 85 pounds (38.6 kilograms) on average and reaching lengths of more than seven and a half feet (2.3 meters), these kitties are not able to roar. Also, most of their length comes from their enormously long tails that can be 90% the length of their body - for comparison, if Chester’s tail worked like a snow leopard’s it would be almost twice as long… and much bushier.

Snow leopard’s actually use their tails like a blanket to keep their extremities warm. Oh, and speaking of their feet, snow leopards have giant paws that act like snow shoes so they can more easily traverse the landscape. Their front feet are slightly large than their back feet, but their back legs are slightly longer than their front legs. This enhances their agility and allows them better jumps over rocky terrain. Also, compared to most other cats, snow leopards have smaller ears. This adaptation helps prevent heat loss in a home that’s frequently below freezing!

For more facts on snow leopards, check out the links in the description. Thank you for watching, and be sure to give a thumbs up for more Animal Fact Files.