Snow Leopard Cubs (Los Angeles Zoo) |
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Zoo has a new attraction; a pair of rare snow leopard cubs.
The brother and sister duo were born on May 26, 2009 and made their public debut Thursday.
Native to remote mountains in Asia, snow leopards are extremely rare. It is estimated that only 5,000 to 7,000 snow leopards remain in the wild.
Experts say these cats are well adapted to life in high, rugged terrain, partly because of their thick fur, which allows them to keep warm, and long tail they can wrap around themselves for added warmth. They can tolerate extreme temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit down to 40 below zero. Snow leopards also have well developed chest muscles for climbing and their long tail helps them balance.
Thanks to their outstanding night vision, ability to leap 45 feet in the air and capability to kill prey up to two to three times their weight, snow leopards are very adept hunters. Their primary prey are ibex, markhor, goat and wild sheep. Unfortunately, due to the depletion of their natural prey, snow leopards are now hunting domestic farm animals, which brings them in closer contact with humans.
Living at the top of the food chain, the snow leopard is an "indicator species" for the fragile mountain ecosystems of Asia. This means that the ecosystem is considered healthy if it can support a large predator like the snow leopard.
The brother and sister duo were born on May 26, 2009 and made their public debut Thursday.
Native to remote mountains in Asia, snow leopards are extremely rare. It is estimated that only 5,000 to 7,000 snow leopards remain in the wild.
Experts say these cats are well adapted to life in high, rugged terrain, partly because of their thick fur, which allows them to keep warm, and long tail they can wrap around themselves for added warmth. They can tolerate extreme temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit down to 40 below zero. Snow leopards also have well developed chest muscles for climbing and their long tail helps them balance.
Thanks to their outstanding night vision, ability to leap 45 feet in the air and capability to kill prey up to two to three times their weight, snow leopards are very adept hunters. Their primary prey are ibex, markhor, goat and wild sheep. Unfortunately, due to the depletion of their natural prey, snow leopards are now hunting domestic farm animals, which brings them in closer contact with humans.
Living at the top of the food chain, the snow leopard is an "indicator species" for the fragile mountain ecosystems of Asia. This means that the ecosystem is considered healthy if it can support a large predator like the snow leopard.
