Animal Update - February 3

There are a few things to update you on at the zoo. First would be Ahpun's birthday party, held this weekend (she turned 7). Everybody loves our polar bear so she had quite the party, although it was really cold. I suppose that's good for a polar bear, but for humans it was downright chilly, to say the least. Even so, roughly 350 people showed up and even participated in the ice-cream eating contest! There were three age groups in the contest; children, young adults, and adults. Because of the cold weather, I know they had difficulties filling up all the spots; however, in the end they had three very cold winners, each of whom got a gift certificate to the gift shop. I was not able to watch the contest because I was manning the critter table, full of all kinds of bear stuff, which was thankfully located right next to the big bon fire we had going!

In other news, we finally got the go-ahead to breed our snow leopards! We are very excited about this, although we are somewhat apprehensive about putting the two of them together. They are an endangered species, and the whole point of a breeding program is to propitiate the species. So it would definitely be counter-productive if they kill each other in the process, because as you probably know from past updates, our Kaz & Molly don't exactly get along. If all goes well, we just might see some kittens later this spring. I've included some information about snow leopards at the bottom of this notice, taken from the Alaska Zoo's web page.

On a sad note, the zoo had to euthanize Collee, our llama. Collee started showing symptoms on Christmas: not eating and weak in the hind end. With in a week he was not using his front legs and has been down ever since. They tried giving him antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, acupuncture, ultrasounds, etc… but there was no improvement. Maybe in death they will finally know what happened to him. I, for one, will miss him, even though he was never the friendliest fellow at the zoo. You could tell he wanted to come over and visit, but he was just too afraid.



SNOW LEOPARDS:

History

Our snow leopards arrived in September of 2002. Kaz came from the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Molly arrived from the Denver Zoo in Denver, Colorado. Both leopards were born in captivity as part of the AZA Species Survival Plan for the captive breeding of endangered snow leopards. This plan ensures that a genetically viable population of captive breeders will continue, ensuring the continued survival of this species.


Physical Description

Snow leopards are a medium-sized cat, with an average body length of six feet from the head to the tip of the tail. They weigh an average of 90 pounds, with males being larger than females. Their life span in the wild can reach 13 years, while captive snow leopards can reach ages of up to 20 years.

Snow leopards are native to cold, high altitude mountain ranges in central Asia. They spend much of their time traveling over steep and rocky terrain. As a result, these leopards have adapted many unique physical characteristics that set them apart from other cat species:

Short front legs and long back legs to jump distances of over 50 feet

Enlarged nasal cavity for breathing in thin air

Long tail, almost equal to the body length, used to balance while jumping

Fur is marked with black rosettes and spots for camouflage with rocks


Habitat

These leopards may have territories of up to 700 square miles. Their territory size is dependant on the availability of prey, with less prey meaning larger territories. They usually live above tree line between 7,500 and 18,000 feet. Their habitat at these elevations consists of rocky, treeless slopes.


Food

Snow leopards prey on ibex (wild goat), bharal (blue sheep), small mammals, and birds. They are able to capture and kill prey weighing over three times their body weight. In captivity, their diet consists of red meat and Nebraska Brand (a commercially-made exotic feline diet).


Behavior

Snow leopards are solitary, except during the breeding season. Their primary form of communication is marking. They scrape the ground with their hind legs, spray urine against rocks, or leave feces as a sign. These markings allow leopards to define their territories and advertise for mates during breeding season.

Snow leopards breed between December and March, with cubs being born from May through June. The births occur in "birthing dens", which consist of rocky caves lined with fur from the mother. Cubs will eat solid food at two months and learn to hunt by the time they are three months old. Females are responsible for raising the cubs, with no assistance from the males.


Fast Facts

A snow leopard has spotted skin, just like a tiger has striped skin.

Unlike other large cats, snow leopards cannot roar. They vocalize during the breeding season by mew calls, hissing, growling, and screaming.

Snow leopards have never been known to attack humans. If a mother has cubs and feels threatened, she will defend herself and her young.


Threats to Survival

Snow leopards have become endangered primarily through conflicts with humans. As farms expand into snow leopard habitat, livestock compete against wild prey for food. As the prey populations decline, leopards are forced to hunt livestock. This leads to the loss of leopards due to “retribution hunting”, or herders killing leopards that have killed livestock.

These leopards are also poached for their fur and bones. Snow leopard bones are now being used in place of tiger bones in some traditional Asian medicines. Tiger bones have become rare due to the success of tiger conservation programs.

Another factor in their decline is their slow population growth rate, with females usually giving birth to just two or three cubs every other year. They cannot recover easily from sudden population declines, making them particularly vulnerable to extinction.


Conservation

There are approximately 4,000 snow leopards remaining in the wild. They are difficult to research due to their solitary habits and remote mountain habitat. Their exact numbers in the wild are unknown.

Snow leopards are listed as an Endangered Species and have protection through CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This law prohibits the trade of snow leopards or their parts between countries.

There are organizations such as the International Snow Leopard Trust (ISLT) that work with local communities in snow leopard regions to enforce protection laws and educate the public on snow leopard conservation. The efforts of ISLT include providing financial incentives for local people to conserve leopards, as well as prevention of livestock losses.