THE SNOW LEOPARD OUNCE PANTHERA UNCIA UNCIA UNCIA LARGE CAT NATIVE THE MOUNTAIN RANGES CENTRAL SOUTH ASIA ENDANGERED IUCN RED LIST THREATENED SPECIES AS OF SIZE GLOBAL POPULATION FEWER INDIVIDUALS REPRODUCE IN THE WILD DRAWING THE LATEST AVAILABLE GLOBAL SNOW LEOPARD PROTECTION PROGRAM USES ESTIMATE DATA PUBLISHED PETER ZAHLER NUMBER WILD SNOW LEOPARDS RAISING THE NUMBERS POPULATION PERCENT ALPINE SUBALPINE ZONES NORTHERN RANGE TAXONOMICALLY CLASSIFIED THE EARLY GENOTYPING THE CAT MEMBER GENUS PANTHERA SUBSPECIES GENETIC DIFFERENCES THE NATIONAL HERITAGE ANIMAL AFGHANISTAN PAKISTAN LATIN GENUS NAME ENGLISH NAME DERIVED OLD FRENCH THE EUROPEAN LYNX ONCE ITSELF BELIEVED ARISEN VARIANT LONCE CONSTRUED LEAVING THE ANIMALS THE ENGLISH VERSION EVENTUALLY NATIVE LANDS LADAKHI TIBETAN BARYS KYRGYZ URDU SANSKRIT THE AMERICAN HERITAGE ORIGIN THE WORD FOLK ETYMOLOGY THE GREEK BECAUSE THEY CAN HUNT KILL ALMOST GREEK WORD MEANING YELLOWISH WHITISH FELINES SPECIES GERMAN NATURALIST JOHANN CHRISTIAN DANIEL VON BASIS ILLUSTRATION PUBLICATION DIE IN NATUR MIT FELIS UNCIA GAVE TYPE LOCALITY BARBARY PERSIA EAST INDIA BRITISH ZOOLOGIST JOHN EDWARD GRAY SUBORDINATED NAME REGINALD INNES POCOCK CORROBORATED ATTRIBUTED THE SCIENTIFIC THE EIGHT FELIDAE LINEAGE NEOFELIS FELINAE BRANCHING CLOUDED LEOPARD MILLION YEARS AGO THE DETAILS PHYLOGENETIC STUDY WARREN JOHNSON THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE COLLEAGUES NDNA MTDNA THE LEOPARD SISTER CLADE CONSISTING OF THE TIGER AND THE SNOW THE OTHER THE LION THE JAGUAR THIS WAS SECONDED LARS RESULTS BRIAN DAVIS THE TEXAS UNIVERSITY SHANGHAI SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM SWAPPING CLADOGRAM POINT INTERBRED MITOCHONDRIAL GENOME SIMILAR TO EACH NUCLEAR GENOME FEMALE HYBRID OFFSPRING MALE ANCESTORS MODERN LIONS THE MALE LIVING SOUTHERN TRANSBAIKAL AUTHORS HANDBOOK OF THE MAMMALS OF THE WORLD RECOGNIZE MONGOLIA RUSSIA WESTERN CHINA THE HIMALAYAS SMALLER THAN BIG CATS EXHIBIT RANGE GENERALLY WEIGHING REACHING SHORT MEASURING LENGTH THE HEAD THE BASE TAIL MARBLED CAT STANDING COLOR SMOKY GRAY UNDERPARTS DARK GREY BLACK OPEN SPOTS SAME COLOR HEADS LEGS EYES PALE GREEN GREY IN COLOR SHOW ADAPTATIONS MOUNTAINOUS BODIES EARS HELP HEAT PAWS WALKING ON INCREASE GRIP STEEP UNSTABLE TAILS HELPING ROCKY TERRAIN STORAGE FAT BLANKET PROTECT FACES MUZZLE FOREHEAD NASAL CAVITIES THE ANIMAL BREATHE COLD CANNOT ROAR HYOID BONE PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT ESSENTIAL BIG CAT ABILITY LARYNX CHUFFING RECLASSIFIED GENETIC STUDY GANG PROFESSOR WILLIAM MURPHY ACTUALLY EVOLVED TIGERS LEOPARDS THE WEST LAKE BAIKAL SOUTHERN SIBERIA KUNLUN MOUNTAINS THE RUSSIAN ALTAI MOUNTAINS SAYAN MOUNTAINS TIAN SHAN KAZAKHSTAN KYRGYZSTAN TAJIKISTAN UZBEKISTAN THE HINDU KUSH EASTERN KARAKORAM NORTHERN PAMIR MOUNTAINS THE HIGH ALTITUDES THE HIMALAYA INDIA NEPAL BHUTAN TIBETAN PLATEAU THE MONGOLIAN GOBI ALTAI KHANGAI MOUNTAINS TIBET UP TO POTENTIAL HABITAT HIMALAYAS LESS THAN JAMMU AND KASHMIR UTTARAKHAND HIMACHAL PRADESH SIKKIM ARUNACHAL PRADESH GOOD IN THE BEGINNING INDIAN PROTECTED AREA IN SUMMER ABOVE THE TREE MEADOWS REGIONS IN WINTER DOWN FORESTS PREFER BROKEN TRAVEL SNOW EXISTING TRAILS OTHER ANIMALS GLOBAL WARMING CAUSED DECREASE DEPEND THE PLANTS EXCEPT FEMALES REAR DENS THE MOUNTAINS LIVES HOME RANGE TERRITORY AGGRESSIVELY HOME RANGES ANIMALS HERE HABITATS SPARSE AREA SCENT MARK TERRITORIES COMMON THE GROUND HIND FEET URINE SCAT SPRAY URINE ONTO SHELTERED PATCHES CREPUSCULAR ACTIVE AT DAWN SECRETIVE CARNIVORE OPPORTUNISTIC EATING WHATEVER MEAT CARRION DOMESTIC TIMES BHARAL HIMALAYAN TAHR MARKHOR ARGALI HORSE CAMEL SMALLER HARE BIRD KILLING EXCEPTION ADULT MALE AMOUNT GRASS PAIRS MATING THE DIET DEPENDS PREYS BLUE SHEEP MOUNTAIN ALTAI SIBERIAN IBEX TYPE WILD SHEEP PARTS THE SNOW EATEN WILD GOATS SHEEP URIAL RUMINANT GORAL PLUS DEER RED PANDA WILD BOAR LANGUR MONKEY MARMOT WOOLLY PIKA RODENT BIRDS COCK CHUKAR PREDATION LIVESTOCK BRINGS DIRECT CONFLICT REDUCED INTERACTIONS HUMANS DOMESTIC SHEEP TAKEN HERDERS PREVENT TAKING THE LOSS OVERGRAZING POACHING DEFENSE THE MAJOR DECREASING REPORTED ATTACK APPEARS AGGRESSIVE DRIVEN AWAY KILLS THEMSELVES AMBUSH FROM ABOVE MOMENTUM INITIAL LEAP CHASE BITE DRAG SAFE LOCATION SURVIVE TWO WEEKS HUNTING ANNUAL NEEDS ADULT CATS BIRTH MATE MARKED MARKING GESTATION PERIOD THE CUBS OESTRUS LASTS FROM FIVE EIGHT MALES SEEK PARTNER PROBABLY MATING SEASON SUFFICIENT PAIRED POSTURE THE MOTHER SHED LITTER FROM ONE AVERAGE BLIND HELPLESS ALREADY COAT WEIGH EYES OPEN SEVEN WALK WEEKS FULLY WEANED FULL TURN GROW LEAVE THE DEN FOUR MONTHS MOTHER INDEPENDENT DISPERSE CROSSING WIDE FLAT HUNTING GROUNDS REDUCE INBREEDING MATURE NORMALLY LIVE FOR CAPTIVITY CONSERVE MOUNTAIN ECOSYSTEMS TRUST CONSERVANCY SPECIALIST PANTHERA CORPORATION NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS FROM THE SNOW AROUND THE WORLD THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOCUS COMMUNITY EDUCATION UNDERSTANDING THE CATS HERDER COMMUNITIES GOVERNMENT LEADERS OFFICIALS KYRGYZ REPUBLIC FORUM INITIATED THE PRESIDENT ALMAZBEK ATAMBAYEV THE STATE AGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION FORESTRY THE GOVERNM