Pioneer Press features one (or more) of Brookfield Zoo’s animals each month with some background information about the animal, its species, its family and its connection to the zoo. This month is the snow leopard, which lives in The Fragile Kingdom exhibit.
Q: Tell us a little bit about the snow leopards at Brookfield Zoo.
A: In the wild, snow leopards live in a range that extends across 12 countries in Central Asia, from Eastern Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, northeast through China and Mongolia to Southern Russia and south to Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal. Despite their extensive range, there are only about 6,500 left in the wild. They have been considered endangered since the mid 1980s.
The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan and is home to a breeding pair. Male Sabu was born at the Cape May Zoo on May 10, 2010. Female Sarani, born Oct. 13, 2011, hails from Tautphaus Park Zoo. They both arrived at Brookfield Zoo in October 2011. Sabu and Sarani have one male offspring named Everest. He was born on June 13, 2013, and now lives at Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska, where it is expected he will also breed.
Q: How agile are snow leopards?
A: Snow leopards occasionally run up to 40 miles per hour in short bursts. However, the steep mountainous terrain requires jumping and climbing to a greater extent. They can jump up to 45 feet by leaping and ricocheting off the sheer rocky landscape.
Q: How do snow leopards stay warm in the mountains of Asia?
A: Their long, dense fur is suited to their high altitude environment. They also have a built-in blanket in their long and fluffy tail, and their paws have a cushion of hair that increases the surface area and act like insulating snowshoes. A snow leopard’s nose functions as a built-in heat exchanger. The large nasal cavity helps heat up the chilly air before it reaches the lungs. Their fur is a soft gray and cream color with dark brown or black splotches. It helps them blend in with their snowy, rocky environment. Their natural camouflage keeps them hidden from both predators and prey.
Q: How is the snow leopard population doing in the wild?
A: Unfortunately, their beauty has added to their endangerment. During the 1920s as many as a thousand snow leopards were killed yearly for their fur, a number that has greatly declined due to wildlife protection. Many are still poached for their fur, and for bones used as a traditional medicine. Additionally, their habitat has significantly decreased due to agricultural expansion. In agricultural areas, snow leopards hunt and kill livestock, causing farmers and ranchers to kill them in response. Creating corrals for protecting livestock and supporting handicraft sources for alternate income are ongoing conservation strategies. The Chicago Zoological Society also administers the Chicago Board of Trade Endangered Species Fund, which has funded research projects focused on snow leopard conservation.
Q: Anything else that you want to say about these cats?
A: Snow leopards are elusive and solitary animals. Field researchers will often only see evidence of their communication with each other — scraped ground, scratched trees, shed fur, urine and feces all carrying messages to each other. Camera trapping and fecal analysis have become important tools for studying these rare cats. Snow leopards are also the only large cats that do not roar, although they do hiss, mew, growl, wail, and chuff. Chuffing is a friendly greeting — a soft airy vocalization.
To learn more about the snow leopards and the other animals at Brookfield Zoo, go to www.CZS.org or like Brookfield Zoo on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/BrookfieldZoo.