Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Leopard

The female Snow Leopard at the Calgary Zoo wasn't getting to chance to have babies, as the previous male apparently didn't know what he was supposed to do, LOL. When I called in at the Zoo yesterday afternoon, it was very obvious that the new male knew exaclty what to do - and often! He is a lot bigger than the female. She looks a little bedraggled here because she liked rolling in the snow : ) I'm not sure exacly when the two were allowed into the same enclosure - I believe it was within the past week and could possibly have been just yesterday. He had had to spend time in quarantine and then the two of them got used to each other a little through the chain link fence before being allowed in together. Gorgeous animals : )

This is one of two Snow Leopards at the Calgary Zoo. Though it looks as if it might be roaring, "It cannot roar, despite possessing an incomplete ossification of the hyoid bone, which was previously thought to be essential for allowing the big cats to roar. However, new studies show that the ability to roar is due to other morphological features, especially of the larynx, which are absent in the snow leopard." From Wikipedia. "The total wild population of the snow leopard is estimated at between 4,000 and 7,500 individuals. In 1972, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, (IUCN) placed the snow leopard on its Red List of Threatened Species as "Endangered," the same classification given the panda and the tiger.....There are numerous agencies working to conserve the snow leopard and its threatened mountain ecosystems." From Wikipedia. There are also 600-700 snow leopards in zoos around the world

This gorgeous Snow Leopard was pacing backwards and forwards non-stop when I saw it at the Calgary Zoo. Hence a slightly unsharp result: ). Beautiful eyes! Taken through dirty glass : ). It is located in the enclosure where the Cougars usually are, until its own enclosure has been renovated.

The sign by the enclosure at the Zoo says: "Our Eurasian Snow Leopards are spending a few months in the Cougar exhibit at Canadian Wilds while their home is being re-furbished." "The Snow Leopard, sometimes known as the Ounce, is a large cat native to the mountain ranges of central and southern Asia. Well known for its beautiful fur, the Snow Leopard has a whitish-tan coat with ringed spots of dark, ashy-brown and rosettes of black . The fur turns white in the winter. Its tail is heavy with fur and the bottom of its paws are covered with fur for protection against snow and cold. The life span of a Snow Leopard is normally 15-18 years, but in captivity they can live up to 20 years. During the 1960s, the Snow Leopard's total population went down to 1,000 animals, but has since recovered slightly." From Wikipedia. The Conservation Status of these magnificent creatures is "Endangered."