May I learn about snow leopards? (from a mutual who is an Amur Leopard lover)
Pspsps mutual don’t be shy :] reveal yourself, I wanna learn about the Amur Leopards (they’re lovely creatures!! Extremely endangered but amazing indeed) Have some snow leopard facts/observations of mine I think people don't really talk about, they're more than just kitties nomming tails and mountain ghosts!
Eyes
[pictured: Zaya/Attan from the Big Cat Sanctuary UK]
At birth their eyes are dark blue, and fade to a green-gray as they mature! Interestingly, Kobo at Tama Zoo in Tokyo has heterochromia, his right eye is green-gray but his left has brown spots around the iris! Never seen any others with it.
My early drawings of Koma has him with grey eyes, but I later changed them to red to match Tobirama :]
Patterns
So fun fact, the main way to identify snow leopards both in zoos and the wild, which I'm certain is the same for leopards and tigers too, is through their patterns!
Each leopard has a unique coat, and for wild snow leopards they're sometimes given nicknames based on unique patterns spotted on trailcams and such. It's how I can do my funny party trick of identifying captive snow leopards on sight :]
This is my shitty sketch of Himmel/Himeru/Hime-chan, who is the love of my life and 2 this year, and the features (in blue) I use to differentiate her from her very similar parents who all live at the same zoo! Her father Skye has little dreads and is scruffier while her mother Jima has darker triangular patches on her cheeks that make her look sharp where Himmel is round :)
In my drawings, I use marking to differentiate my 'main' three leopard characters-- Himmie, Koma, and Mama
Himmie has hearts,
Koma has two circles as eyebrows and Tobirama's red markings,
and Mama has swirls/wind markings all around
Cubs
Snow leopards have a very set mating season in winter (got to keep warm somehow!), which is often the only time they'll encounter other snow leopards--otherwise they try to avoid interaction as much as possible. If my memory is right, we only captured footage of a territorial fight between males this year (2025).
They have anywhere between 1-3 cubs, and the mother raises them herself for about two years. In the wild, male cubs tend to leave their mothers earlier, while females tend to linger for just over two years before leaving.
Zoos usually start a gradual separation process between 1.5-2 years to match what happens in the wild. The cubs make this really sad 'Awl!'/chirp sound calling for mum until they get used to it (but it's a necessary process!) It's quite noticeable though because snow leopards don't talk much, unless it's chirping for mama or yowling for a mate. (or in the wild, announcing their territory)
One odd thing I noticed is that Japanese zoos usually only have litters of one cub, while multiples are oddly common in European zoos and sanctuaries! (Though not all survive, especially if it's threes). If they're raised together cubs can have a pretty close relationship even as young adults (see Zaya/Attan), and participate in more social behaviour.
Misc
What else...
they're short. Way shorter than tigers, I'd say about the height of a golden retriever and half their length is that tail. Koma imo comes up to Tobirama's mid-thigh at most.
they nom tails to self-soothe, but it doesn't necessary mean they're distressed, sometimes they just do it like a stim or for fun.
I would not release a captive snow leopard into the wild, especially if they were born captive. I think a lot of people are like. Free them!! But zoos and sanctuaries that are properly run and geared to conservation are important in understanding how to handle endangered species like snow leopards out in the wild.
Also if any of you has seen videos of Himmel in particular (who I based Koma off), that girl is way too curious and friendly to humans that feed her little chicken chunks, she wouldn't last a day outside. Still a wild animal though, if the zoo/sanctuary is run properly you'll not see humans interacting with the leopards unless through a fence.
Hilariously a lot of pictures of 'snarling' snow leopards captured them mid-yawn or exhibiting a flemen response (they smelled something stinky), if you look at the rest of their body language they're usually chill!
