Indian Snow Leopard is scientifically called Panther uncia and is a native of the mountain ranges. It can live for twenty years.
The Snow Leopard has a gray colour skin and has rings and rosettes of black or brown. It has a striped tail and the fur is soft and beautiful. The tail as well as the base of the paw is covered with fur. Snow Leopards can weigh nearly seventy-five kilograms and the length of their head and body can be as long as fifty-nine inches. Their tail is also long and is nearly thirty one to thirty nine inches. The head of the male snow leopard is square and wider than that of the female leopard.
During the summers, snow leopards inhabit in the areas above the tree line on mountainous meadows or in the rocky surfaces of the Indian subcontinent, which are nearly six thousand meters in height. During the winters, they come down to lower elevations as low as two thousand meters.
Snow Leopards live an isolated life and they rarely form groups. They are carnivores and consume ibex, bharal, markhor, urial, boars, marmots and other small rodents. The mating season of the Snow Leopards starts in January and lasts till May. The gestation period is usually ninety eight to one hundred and three days.
The Snow Leopard has found a place in the list of Endangered Species. In India, they are mainly found in the National Parks namely, the Hemis National Park in East Ladakh, Nanda Devi National Park and the Valley of Flowers National Park in Uttarakhand.
