25 Snow Leopard Facts: The Ghost of the Himalayas

The snow leopard's scientific name is Panthera uncia.

Despite its name, the snow leopard is more closely related to tigers than to common leopards.

Snow leopards live in the high mountains of Central and South Asia, across 12 countries including India, Nepal, China, Mongolia and Pakistan.

They usually live at heights of around 3,000 to 4,500 metres above sea level, and sometimes even higher.

Adult snow leopards usually weigh around 22 to 55 kilograms.

Their thick, smoky-grey fur with dark rosettes helps them blend perfectly into rocky, snowy slopes.

Their fur is extremely thick, especially on the belly, to protect them from the bitter cold.

Snow leopards have large, wide paws covered in fur, which work like snowshoes on soft snow.

Their short, rounded ears help reduce heat loss in freezing temperatures.

A snow leopard uses its tail as a scarf

A snow leopard's thick, fluffy tail can be almost as long as its body, around 80 to 100 centimetres. When it rests in the freezing cold, it wraps its tail around its body and over its nose and face like a warm, furry scarf. The long tail also acts as a counterbalance, helping the snow leopard keep its balance as it leaps across narrow ledges and steep, rocky cliffs while chasing prey.

Snow leopards have a large nasal cavity that warms the cold mountain air before it reaches their lungs.

Unlike most other big cats, snow leopards have pale grey or greenish eyes.

Snow leopards can't roar. Instead, they make sounds such as chuffs, mews, growls and long, wailing yowls.

Snow leopards are amazing jumpers and can make huge leaps across rocky mountain slopes.

In India, their main prey are wild sheep and goats such as the bharal, or blue sheep, and the Himalayan ibex.

A snow leopard can bring down prey up to about three times its own body weight.

Snow leopards also eat some plants, such as grass and twigs, possibly to help with digestion.

They are most active around dawn and dusk.

Snow leopards usually live alone and roam huge home ranges across the mountains.

India is home to around 718 snow leopards

In 2024, India released the results of its first nationwide snow leopard survey, which used thousands of camera traps across the Himalayas. It estimated that around 718 snow leopards live in India. Most of them, around 477, live in Ladakh, with others in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir. Hemis National Park in Ladakh is one of the best places in the world to see a snow leopard, and is often called the snow leopard capital of the world.

The snow leopard is the state animal of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.

Snow leopards are listed as vulnerable, threatened by poaching, habitat loss, climate change and conflict with herders over livestock.

In Ladakh, local homestays welcome snow leopard watchers, helping families earn money and encouraging them to protect the cats.

Attacks on people by snow leopards are almost unknown. They are shy and usually avoid humans.

International Snow Leopard Day is celebrated every year on 23 October.