Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia): Facts, Habitat and Diet

What does a snow leopard look like?

A snow leopard’s coat is whitish to smoky gray, sometimes with a creamy yellow tinge, and pale on the belly. Solid black spots cover the head, neck and lower legs, while the back, flanks and tail carry larger dark rings called rosettes. The pattern breaks up the cat’s outline among rocks and snow.

The fur is among the thickest of any cat. It grows in two coats a year, and in winter the hairs reach about 5 cm (2 in) on the sides and up to about 12 cm (4.7 in) on the belly. Young cubs have dark stripes along the back that break up into spots as they grow.

The head is small and rounded, with a short muzzle, a high, domed forehead and pale green or gray eyes. Large nasal cavities help warm the cold, dry mountain air before it reaches the lungs.

How big is a snow leopard?

Snow leopards are smaller than tigers, lions and jaguars, and a little lighter than many leopards. Most adults weigh 25–55 kg (55–121 lb). Males average roughly 45–55 kg (99–121 lb) and females 35–40 kg (77–88 lb), although exceptionally large males of up to about 75 kg (165 lb) have been recorded.

The tail is the standout measurement. At up to about 1 m (3.3 ft), it can be nearly as long as the rest of the body, proportionally one of the longest tails of any cat. For more on how the snow leopard compares with its relatives, see our ranking of the biggest wild cats.

Built for cold and steep ground

Almost every part of the snow leopard is adapted to its harsh home. Its small, rounded ears lose little heat. Its broad paws spread the cat’s weight like snowshoes, and thick fur under the feet gives grip on ice and loose scree while insulating the pads from the cold.

The long hind legs give power for leaping up rock faces and bounding down steep slopes. The tail acts as a counterbalance when the cat twists and turns at speed, and it stores fat. When a snow leopard curls up to sleep, it often wraps the furry tail over its nose and feet like a scarf.

Snow leopards are not specially adapted to low oxygen in the way that some high-altitude animals are, but their large chest and nasal passages help them cope with thin, freezing air.

Habitat and range

Snow leopards live in 12 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Their range covers roughly 2 million km² (770,000 sq mi) of mountains, from the Hindu Kush and Himalayas across the Tibetan Plateau to the Tian Shan, Pamirs, Altai and Sayan ranges. China holds the largest share, about 60% of the range.

They usually live at about 3,000–4,500 m (9,800–14,800 ft), in alpine meadows, rocky slopes and broken cliffs above the tree line, and in summer they have been recorded as high as about 5,500–6,000 m (18,000–19,700 ft). In Mongolia and Russia they also live much lower, sometimes below 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and in winter many follow their prey down the mountains. They prefer steep, rugged ground and avoid dense forest.

Our guide Where do snow leopards live? covers the range country by country.

What do snow leopards eat?

Snow leopards are carnivores that hunt mainly wild sheep and goats. Their most important prey is the blue sheep, or bharal, in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau, and the Siberian ibex farther north. They also take argali sheep, markhor, Himalayan tahr, musk deer and wild boar, along with smaller animals such as marmots, pikas, hares and game birds.

They prefer prey of roughly 36–76 kg (79–168 lb), often heavier than themselves. A snow leopard stalks to within close range, then rushes and pounces, sometimes chasing prey down a steep slope for up to about 300 m (980 ft). After a kill it drags the carcass to cover and may feed on it for several days. One blue sheep can last up to about two weeks, and an adult is thought to need 20–30 large prey animals a year.

Where wild prey is scarce, snow leopards also kill goats, sheep, horses and young yaks, which brings them into conflict with herders. Read more in What do snow leopards eat?.

Behavior and communication

Snow leopards are solitary. Adults live alone except for mothers with cubs and pairs during the mating season. They are most active at dawn and dusk and spend the day resting on cliffs and ridges that give shade and a view over the slopes below.

Home ranges vary hugely with the amount of prey. In rich habitat in Nepal, individual home ranges were only about 12–39 km² (5–15 sq mi), but in the Gobi Desert mountains of Mongolia, GPS-collared males used about 144–270 km² (56–104 sq mi) and females about 83–165 km² (32–64 sq mi). Neighbors avoid one another by reading signs: they scrape the ground with their hind feet, spray urine on rocks and rub their cheeks on boulders along ridgelines and trails.

Unlike lions and tigers, snow leopards cannot roar. They communicate with mews, growls, hisses, moaning yowls in the breeding season and a soft, friendly puffing called chuffing or prusten. The anatomy behind this is explained in Can snow leopards roar?.

Reproduction and life cycle

Snow leopards breed in late winter, mainly from January to March, when both sexes call and scent-mark more often. Pregnancy lasts about 90–105 days, and cubs are born from April to June in a rocky den or crevice that the mother lines with fur from her belly.

A litter usually has 2–3 cubs, rarely up to 5 or more. Newborns weigh about 300–600 g (11–21 oz) and are blind for about a week. They begin following their mother at around three months, learn to hunt with her and stay with her until they are about 18–22 months old. Because cub rearing takes so long, a female usually breeds only every other year. Females mature at 2–3 years and males at 3–4 years.

How long do snow leopards live?

Wild lifespan is hard to measure because the cats are so elusive, and published figures range widely. In zoos, snow leopards live about 18 years on average and can pass 20 years. Wild cats face injuries from hunting on dangerous terrain, hunger in hard winters and killing by people, so most probably live considerably shorter lives.

Threats and conservation status

The snow leopard is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It was classed as Endangered for decades but was moved down in the 2017 assessment, which concluded that there are fewer than 10,000 mature animals and that numbers are still declining. The change was debated, because many researchers felt the evidence for a large population was weak.

The main threats are:

• Poaching for skins, bones and other body parts sold in illegal markets.
• Retaliatory killing by herders after snow leopards take livestock.
• Loss of wild prey through hunting and competition with growing livestock herds.
• Habitat loss from mining, roads and infrastructure, and, in the long term, climate change, which may push the tree line higher and shrink alpine habitat.

The species is listed in CITES Appendix I, which bans international commercial trade, and it is legally protected in its range countries. In 2013 all 12 range countries signed the Bishkek Declaration and launched the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program. Population estimates and trends are covered in How many snow leopards are left?.

Myths and facts

Myth: the snow leopard is a white version of the leopard. Fact: it is a different species. DNA studies show its closest living relative is the tiger; the two lineages split a few million years ago. The leopard is a separate cat of Africa and southern Asia.

Myth: snow leopards always live in deep snow. Fact: much of their range is cold, dry and rocky rather than snowy. They live in arid mountains with little snowfall and avoid deep snow when they can, often using trails made by other animals.

Myth: snow leopards are dangerous to people. Fact: they are among the least aggressive big cats toward humans. Only a few attacks have ever been recorded, and some involved sick or injured animals. Shepherds usually find it easy to chase a snow leopard away from livestock.

Snow leopards and people

For people across Central Asia, the snow leopard is a powerful symbol. It appears on the coat of arms of Tatarstan and on the seals of cities such as Almaty and Samarkand, and it is the state animal of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh in India.

Tourism is now helping some communities benefit from the cats. In Ladakh and Spiti in India and in parts of Mongolia and Nepal, local guides lead winter treks to watch snow leopards, and homestay programs give villagers an income from wildlife. Community projects that build predator-proof corrals and offer livestock insurance aim to reduce the losses that lead herders to kill the cats.