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Snow leopard, ounce - PANTHERA UNCIA
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Leopard": "Leopard" comes from two Greek words "leon pard," meaning "lion (large) cat." "Ounce" is French for "lynx," but the "l" has disappeared by those thinking that the letter "l" stood for "the" in French. Similarly, our word "apron" used to be "napron," but people thought the "n" was part of the word "an" as in "an apron." And so we dropped the "n," just as the French dropped the "l" in "lynx."
Location: Central Asia.
Habitat: Terrestrial. High mountains (to 19,700 feet); in winter it descends to lower altitudes.
Description: This leopard’s fur is long and dense, pale gray on the back and white on the underside. A darker stripe runs along the back, while the rest of the coat is spotted with solid circles on the head, neck, and lower limbs, and rosettes on the sides of the body and the tail. Length of head and body is over four feet long, with a tail that can add another three and a half feet to the total length. They weigh up to 160 pounds.
Behavior: It feeds mainly on mountain goats and sheep, and also on marmots, deer, and other mammals, including domestic animals. Not much is known about the life history of the snow leopard. Most of the information on them has been obtained from observing specimens in captivity. On the whole, however, the snow leopard behaves like the other members of the cat family. Its roar is not as loud as that of the leopard. It is most active in the early morning, and in the evening.
Reproduction: The female usually gives birth to two or three young from April through June after about a 100-day gesation period. The coat of the young has more evident markings than the adult. They are suckled for about two months before they start to eat solid foods. At three months they follow their mother about, and remain together for a year or more.
Note: The snow leopard is sometimes classified in a genus of its own, Uncia, which also is translated as an “ounce” (not to be confused with 1/16tth of a pound).
Go to the Carnivore Page to learn more about all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Cat Index to study other
wild cats.
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