It’s Official! They Are No Longer Endangered! – 8 Pictures + 3 Videos
Some parts of our planet are so brutal that any creature surviving there achieves almost mythical status. When a creature thrives to these conditions, it becomes legendary. One such creature is called the snow leopard, and it lives in the World’s greatest mountain range – Himalayas.
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Endangered natural habitats
The natural habitat of the snow leopard is changing and as a result, there is a reduced number of individuals. Lately, we found out the great news! According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the snow leopard is no longer endangered and it has changed the status to vulnerable. That means that this cat has gone from “very high risk” to “high risk” and there are between 4.000 and 7.000 snow leopards in the wild. You must admit that this news is certainly good!
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Powerful and mysterious cat
Without a doubt, the snow leopard is one of the World’s most mysterious cats. These cats are so elusive and hard to find and their life is a great mystery. There are only a few filmed documentaries about their everyday life and habits because it’s very difficult to catch them on camera. That’s why it is often said that the snow leopard is a shy animal.
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The whole package
Not only they are gorgeous, but they are also capable of living in extremely cold conditions. As you can notice, their coat is not in the color of the snow, it’s the color of the stones where they climb. It’s one more reason why it is so difficult to see them. Their powerful chest muscles help them to climb mountains with ease and a long tail helps them to balance. Their can jump extremely long. Those tremendous leapers are able to jump as far as 50 feet.
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They don’t attack humans
There are a lot of interesting facts you probably didn’t know about them. For example, it is not very well-known that these wild animals haven’t been aggressive toward humans. The snow leopard will never attack humans, except if it feels in danger. It actually avoids people’s presence more than any other big cats. They would rather play with their cubs than put anyone in danger.
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Collective birthday
Yes, that’s right! They share a birthday! All snow leopards are born in June because their mating period is in winter and early spring. Each summer there is a nursery in Central Asia! Small and helpless cubs can’t open their eyes up to seven days like all other cats. Older ones tend to celebrate their birthday actively…and possibly get stuck.
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L.A Zoo got new residents
Nowadays, small snow leopard babies can be seen in many Zoos around the World. In May 2017, Los Angeles Zoo got two new snow leopard cubs. It’s good to be in the Zoo for these tiny, little kittens because they are at risk in the wild. They are going to adapt perfectly to the L.A. climate because they can handle temperatures down to 40 below freezing. In the following picture you can see two newborn kittens that live in Los Angeles Zoo with their parents, three-year-old Georgina and five-year-old Fred.
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Not such a big cat
The snow leopard is smaller than any other big wild cat. His tail is as long as his body and that’s a really cool fact!
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Undeniable charisma
The snow leopard has an undeniable charisma and loves to cuddle as any other cat. In the following video, you can see how he really enjoys cuddling and his unbelievable jumping around the Zoo.
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Gorgeous meow
Despite this big cat looks a little bit scary (but also gorgeous) for humans, it does everything domestic cats do. Their specific meow sound is cute and loud at the same time, and if you pay a better attention it sounds like OOWWW.
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Imagine you are skiing through the Indian’s Kashmir region and then suddenly you notice his highness-the snow leopard. These skiers have experienced an unbelievable feeling of skiing with the snow leopard and they have all that filmed on camera. We guess it’s incredible, but also a scary feeling at the same time.
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Image Sources:
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- http://bit.ly/2x0ZYzH
- http://bit.ly/2uIPpxr
