Warning, the following includes descriptions of scat.
It was hard to find a snow leopard photo, most photos are from zoos. Camera traps have done wonders for observing wildlife.
I follow and read articles by The Wildlife Society, the association of wildlife managers which probably tracks it’s lineage back to Aldo Leopold one way or another. Sometimes they have interesting articles. Such was the case with Snow leopards may eat more big animals than thought
Notice the words “may” and “previously thought”. That’s why I love reading the scribblings of scientists. If the article had been written by a science writer the title would have been “Proof of large ungulate predation by snow leopards”. I’m off on one of my favorite tangents.
Scientists looked at what species their scat samples came from (mostly red fox that dog gone troublesome canine) and found that by analyzing only the scat of actual snow leopards, they were able to determine the cat’s diet was composed of a much higher percentage of large ungulates than previously assumed.
I understand this might not be of interest to many. I look at and try to figure out scat all the time. A problem I and many have (including snow leopard scientists I guess) is trying to figure out what critter left the little present. You look at the scat and guess. Then you pull apart the scat to see what it’s been eating. Coyote can be confused with cougar. It happens. They both leave scat in a place to be found, a sign post for others to find. I usually find predator scat in the same types of places, like on top of a rock on an oft used game trail. All the photos in books don’t account for the unusual digestive systems of carnivores. Often the species is obvious, other times much less so. I guess I’m not the only one to struggle with the issue.
At the end of the article was the surprising way to increase the population of the endangered snow leopard. (4K to 6K in the wild) Hunt the ibex was the answer. I smiled. The idea was that people pay tons of money to hunt the ibex. By placing value on the ibex populations, one of the main prey species of the leopard would be increased. Ibex is food for snow lion. Hunting is conservation and all that.
More reading here.
Wildlife Society Member Tracks the Mystery of Snow Leopard Populations
The Wildlife Society Wiki
Snow Leopard Wiki
Snow Leopard IUCN
Also a thank you to the folks at rescue, and all who commented, I’ve been away today… working :-(.