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Leopard
Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia)
Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia)
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Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia)
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Morphometric data of snow leopards :-
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.researchgate.net/publication...heir_range 
Trio of snow leopards prowling in Kibber gorge of Spiti valley (India).
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Video: Image source: raachotrekkers.com 
An intriguing find of an early Middle Pleistocene European snow leopard, Panthera uncia pyrenaica ssp. nov. (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae), from the Arago cave (Tautavel, Pyrénées-Orientales, France)
Abstract A complete mandible of a leopard-sized cat from the early Middle Pleistocene Arago cave MIS 14 level (Tautavel, France) was at first assigned to the snow leopard, Panthera uncia. A subsequent comprehensive description and analysis found the mandibular corpus snow leopard-like, but interpreted the dentition more like the leopard, Panthera pardus. Thus, this cat was classified as P. pardus. The re-study given in this paper presents the key to its real evolutionary place. The extant snow leopard is characterised by an autapomorphic excessively large dentition, not found in any other Panthera species. The Arago specimen represents the symplesiomorphic small-tooth type. Subtracting this character leaves diagnostic uncertainty, when only looking at the teeth, but provides an unambiguous P. uncia assignment when looking for the unique factor combination of the mandibular corpus. We deal with an ancestral snow leopard who demonstrates that the later large dentition was not yet evolved in the early Middle Pleistocene. An abstract heading in a symposium program book proposed the name Panthera pardus tautavelensis nov. ssp., not available by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Therefore, the Arago snow leopard is named Panthera uncia pyrenaica ssp. nov. A single Panthera uncia record in the Eurasian late Middle Pleistocene from Zhoukoudian Locality 3 (China) perfectly bridges the difference between the Arago cat and the extant snow leopard. The early Middle Pleistocene European history of leopard-sized cats was originally understood as a more or less uniform development within the species P. pardus. This turns out to be a repeated replacement of different species and subspecies, involving Puma pardoides, Panthera pardus and Panthera uncia. It cannot even be excluded that snow leopards returned in each intense cold period of the Middle and Late Pleistocene from their Central Asian home to Europe. 
So now it would seem that out of the five pantherine cats, only the tiger was ever confined to one continent.
Eastern Himalayas, Nepal
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/nepali-researchers-yet-again-photograph-snow-leopard-leopard-in-same-place/?fbclid=IwAR33laHqnumofI9m3BkPbZf5AT23UEYHGvXv1yLdpTFnIJu4SyNOvFa5QcU  *This image is copyright of its original author
Adult female
 *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.zoodegranby.com/en/animals/snow-leopard 
Information regarding body mass and measurements of wild snow leopards
From 'Body measurements of free-ranging snow leopards across their range' LINK Abstract We provide body measurements of snow leopards collected from 55 individuals sampled in five of the major mountain ranges within the species distribution range; the Altai, Hindu Kush, Himalayas, Pamirs and Tien Shan mountains. Snow leopards appear to be similarly sized across their distribution range with mean body masses of 36 kg and 42 kg for adult females and adult males, respectively. In contrast to other large felids, we found little variation in body size and body mass between the sexes; adult males were on average 5% longer and 15% heavier than adult females. Important Notes from this research paper: "Data were collected from 47 snow leopards in the Pamirs (Afghanistan; n=7), Tien Shan (Kyrgyzstan; n=7), Hindu Kush (Pakistan; n=1), and the Altai (Mongolia; n=32) in 2006-2019 (Fig 1). Four of the snow leopards in Afghanistan were measured during captures, the remaining three were found dead during field work." "Similarly, individual variation in body mass and size within the sexes was rather small for the adult snow leopards compared to e.g. Persian leopards where adult male weights range from 40 to 91 kg (Farhadinia et al. 2014). Janecka et al. (2017) proposed that three subspecies of snow leopards occur based on three genetic clusters (corresponding to Altai, Himalayas and Tien Shan, Hindu Kush and Pamir), our results indicate that the snow leopards across these clusters are similarly sized." "Throughout the snow leopard distribution range, the main available prey range in size from 36 to 72 kg (Lyngdoh et al. 2014), perhaps the snow leopards are optimally sized to hunt these prey in the steep slopes and natural selection prevents individuals from becoming much larger or smaller." "Snow leopards appear to be similarly sized across their distribution range. This contrasts to the other solitary-living members of the genus Panthera (P. pardus, P. tigris and P. onca) which vary in size geographically by up to two times (e.g. average weights of adult male leopards range from 31 kg in Cape Mountains, South Africa to 66 kg in Iran; Sunquist and Sunquist 2002, Farhadinia et al. 2014, Hunter 2015)" [Map of the snow leopard distribution range (shaded grey) and the locations of the study areas (mountain ranges in red): Pamir – Hindu Kush; Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan and Chitral Gol, Pakistan, Tien Shan; Sarychat, Kyrgyzstan, Himalayas; Langu valley, Nepal and Kanchenjunga Nepal, Altai; Tost Mountains, Mongolia.]  *This image is copyright of its original author [Fig. 2. Body measurements of snow leopards, A: shoulder height measured from the heel of the front paw to top of the shoulder blade B: body length measured from the tip of the nose to base of the tail, and C:tail length measured from base of the tail to the tip of the last caudal vertebra.]  *This image is copyright of its original author [Table 1. Body measurements of adult snow leopards sampled in four mountain ranges across the snow leopard distribution range. Values are given as mean±SD (n).]  *This image is copyright of its original author
Snow leopards and three sympatric carnivores
Camera trapping reveals habitat overlap between snow leopards and common leopards in Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Nepal LINK Abstract We provide camera trap records of the presence of two large predators: the snow leopard Panthera uncia and common leopard Panthera pardus from the same habitats in Lapchi Valley of Gaurishankar Conservation Area. Camera traps were laid for 2,304 (mean 88.62 ± SD 103.34) trap nights in 26 locations (elevation range: 2,140 to 4,350 m, area: 141.63 km2). A total of 55, 219 pictures were recorded from November 2022 to May 2023. Out of 26 camera stations, two camera stations captured the images of both species at an altitude of 4,000 m and 4,260 m in Lapchi Valley. The Relative Abundance Indices of snow leopards and common leopards were 7.51 ± SD 6.35 and 9.84 ± SD 6.35 per 100 trap days/nights, and independent detection rates were 0.41 and 0.52 respectively. This is the first evidence of habitat overlap between two large vulnerable pre-dators in Gaurishankar Conservation Area. The nature of the coexistence or competition between these predators needs further investigation. [Photo 1A & B. Snow leopard and common leopard in the same habitat.Snow leopard and Common leopard camera trap photos in Lapchi Valley of Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Nepal.]  *This image is copyright of its original author From 'What is a snow leopard? Behavior and ecology'. Chapter 2 of 'Snow Leopards (Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes) 2nd Edition' About the Book by Snow Leopard Network  *This image is copyright of its original author Authors of this chapter : Joseph L. Fox, Raghu Chundawat, Shannon Kachel, Aimee Tallian & Orjan Johansson Interactions with other large carnivores Across their range, snow leopards are sympatric with multiple large carnivore species—frequently wolves and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), but also common leopards (Panthera pardus), dholes (Cuon alpinus), and bears (Ursus spp.). Low prey diversity in most snow leopard habitats suggests that competition for prey is likely to occur when available prey limits snow leopards or their potential competitors. Wolves in particular show consistently high dietary overlap with snow leopards (Bocci et al., 2017; Jumabay-Uulu et al., 2014; Kachel et al., 2022; Pal et al., 2022 and see Chapter 13). In light of this, indirect observations of wolves stealing kills (kleptoparasitism) and even anecdotal accounts of wolves killing snow leopards (interspecific killing), are hardly surprising; instead they are consistent with the better-developed literature describing interactions between wolves and pumas (Elbroch and Kusler, 2018). Yet, neither Pal et al. (2022) nor Salvatori et al. (2022) found any evidence of negative spatial effects of wolves on snow leopards in India and Mongolia, respectively. Instead, despite high dietary overlap, the differences in habitat use between the two species appear to be due to their different hunting strategies (Kachel et al., 2022, 2023) rather than active avoidance. Negative cooccurrence coefficients estimated by Pal et al. (2022) hint that snow leopards seasonally avoid the more aggressive common leopard (Lovari et al., 2013); the analogous relationship between pumas and jaguars (Panthera onca; Elbroch and Kusler, 2018) suggests that snow leopards are subordinate to common leopards where their ranges overlap. Bears, though they do not specialize on ungulate prey, do kleptoparasitize and kill big cats (e.g. Elbroch and Kusler, 2018); they too could exert important competitive effects in some landscapes. On the other hand, snow leopards are likely dominant toward the smaller-bodied lynx—the difference in the size of their primary prey may reduce the potential for competition between the two. Documented intraguild predation and interspecific killing near kill sites indicate that snow leopards have the potential to suppress mesopredators populations even while subsidizing them with carrion (Samelius et al., 2022). Google Drive Link to the Book - Snow Leopards 2nd ED Interactions between snow leopards and dogs Feral dogs are able to chase snow leopards away from their kills
Snow leopards in four countries of their current range. Pakistan, China, Mongolia & India.
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Various wildlife visiting an Ibex carcass killed by a snow leopard. Location: Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. LINK "In the winter, in the mountains of the Upper Hunza, a carcass of a Himalayan ibex was found in the snow. A snow leopard had hunted it and it had been there for several days. This is a summary of the wild animals of the Karakoram that were captured by camera traps for 5 days there. Wildlife that was spotted: Snow Leopard, Yellow-billed Chough, Red-billed Chough (not shown in the video), Red Fox, Raven and Bearded Vulture."  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author |
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