From the archive record
Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are one of the most enigmatic wild cats. They live and travel in solitude over vast distances of isolated and rugged mountain range in central Asia, and are supremely adapted to thrive in some of the harshest conditions on the planet. Adding to their elusive nature, snow leopards are the one big cat that cannot roar. Seldom observed in the wild, or at best a fleeting apparition, snow leopards have appropriately earned the title ‘Ghost of the mountains’. The long-term outlook for snow leopards - a flagship species of the mountain ranges of Asia - isuncertain at best. Sadly, as few as 4,000 to 7,000 snow leopards may remain in the wild. Snow leopards are believed to have been extirpated from as much as 15% of their historic range, and though they are legally pr