Snow leopard (Irbis). Irbis or snow leopard from the cat family - description with photos and videos Snow leopard jumping

Snow Leopard or snow leopard is an animal of the cat family. However, you should not be sure that if he is a representative of this family, then he is like any of the cats. The difference between the noble snow leopard and the domestic cat is enormous. The snow leopard also doesn't have much common features with relatives - leopards and jaguars. In a word, we are talking about a special animal.

Snow leopards live in very inaccessible mountains, and this is one of the proofs of their intelligence. While their relatives lived in Africa, suffering from unbearable heat, hunger and thirst, the ancestors of the leopards decided to go north. Despite the harsh snowy conditions, the leopard was able to achieve significant success that only an animal can achieve.

One of amazing features leopards are considered to be their facial expressions. Let's take a horse whose muzzle expression does not change. The leopard is another matter. He looks different in every situation: sometimes he is cute and fluffy, sometimes he is a dangerous beast.

It is for this reason that man has not decided for himself which animals to classify the snow leopard as - evil and good. That's right - neither to one nor the other, since the leopard lives on its own. The snow leopard lives in the mountains and has no enemies. The leopard represents the pinnacle of evolution in its habitat. But animals rarely achieve such results. They even have many enemies, so they survive in packs.

Bars doesn't need a pack. He hunts and lives alone.

The snow leopard is one of the strongest predators, because it can kill an animal that is three times heavier than itself. The leopard hunts mainly mountain goats.

The snow leopard has no enemies and is not surrounded by relatives, which is why it hunts especially. The leopard does not simply scour the mountains, hoping to snatch at least something, but waits, tracks, and only then attacks, suddenly jumping up like a snow ninja.

More interesting point- the snow leopard likes to eat in its home. He is not like other animals, he does not strive to swallow prey faster. No, he simply kills a goat, and then slowly carries it to the lair. The road along the rocks is very difficult, especially when there is a heavy carcass in its teeth, so the leopard is in no hurry. Despite all the difficulties, he prefers to carry the food home so that he can enjoy the food in peace for several days. Cold and snow prevent the meat from spoiling, so the leopard always has fresh and tasty food.

In terms of physical parameters, the snow leopard is also a special animal. The harsh environment around him gradually made him this way. The animal is built literally of muscles, which gives it lightning speed and agility, which is why it lives so well in the mountains.

In addition, the leopard is able to jump up to 10 meters, that is, to a height of three floors. And what’s more interesting is that it can land successfully and competently, and all this in the mountains, where any sharp ledge brings inevitable death.

Physical strength does not make the leopard an aggressive animal. He doesn't kill without a reason. Cases of attacks on humans are rare. The leopard would rather quietly retire than attack aimlessly.

In the mountains, the snow leopard is the basis of nature. Leopards live 10-12 years, but if that happens, it will be the end of the entire ecosystem.

We should learn a lot from leopards, observing their silent calm, ability to make lightning-fast decisions, and simply admiring their beauty.

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The snow leopard, also called the snow leopard, is the only species of large cat that has been able to adapt to the harsh conditions in the highlands. The snow leopard is a representative of the top of the ecological pyramid in the mountains of Central Asia. He is often called the master of the mountains, because he is a permanent inhabitant of this area. Many experts claim that this species of cat has survived to this day due to its habitat in hard-to-reach places. It is very interesting where the snow leopard lives and what it eats. Indeed, today the number of representatives of this type of cat is extremely small.

Appearance of a snow leopard

Externally, the snow leopard is incredibly beautiful and graceful predator. It's quite big cat, having an ash-gray, sometimes brownish color and a bright ring-shaped pattern of dark spots located throughout the body. The snow leopard differs from the leopard in its ash-colored fur and long tail, which in its length is almost equal to the body of the animal. In addition, unlike its brother, the snow leopard has thicker and more luxuriant fur. The length of the animal, as a rule, reaches 170-190 cm, and its weight ranges from 50-70 kg. Males are always larger than females.

Regardless of where the snow leopard lives, its body size and color remain the same. Although some experts are inclined to claim the existence of several subspecies of snow leopards, which appeared due to various geographical environments a habitat.

Saving a View

Today it is very easy to find out where the snow leopard lives. After all, this species has long been listed in the Red Book, since there are extremely few habitats left. This unpleasant phenomenon is due to the fact that in modern realities there are too many different threats to the life of the snow leopard. For example, in Russia, where the snow leopard lives, the species is gradually being destroyed by herders and hunters, as well as by the deteriorating condition environment due to the development of the mining industry and transport infrastructure. In addition, the number of species is significantly affected by a reduction in the number of food items.

Fortunately, over the past few years, in the areas where the snow leopard lives, the number of animals has stabilized. The situation has improved thanks to the discovery of Sailyugemsky national park in Altai. True, the risk of extinction of the species still remains quite high. In the places where the snow leopard lives in Russia, you can count approximately 70 representatives of the snow leopard, most of who lives in Altai. Compared to 2002, the number of animals in Russia has now decreased by almost 3 times. This is due to the hunting of poachers who catch snow leopards in order to obtain derivatives used in oriental medicine.

Threat of species extinction

The once unified snow leopard population today is represented by only a third, which exists only as unstable pockets. Nowadays, females who are capable of reproducing are found only in a few areas where the snow leopard lives. In fact, a group of animals in which there are at least 3 adult females can be considered complete. So, unfortunately, despite some stabilization of the situation in Russia, the snow leopard species today is under threat of extinction.

Snow leopard breeding

This animal is characterized by a rather low reproduction rate - the female snow leopard does not give birth to kittens every year, unlike most of her relatives. The rut occurs in the spring, and babies are born at the end of the season or early summer. During the mating season, the male attracts the female with the help of a special purr. After fertilization, the snow leopard leaves the female. Gestation for snow leopards lasts approximately 95-110 days, and litters typically consist of 2-3 kittens.

Before the appearance of her baby, the female sets up a kind of den in some hard-to-reach place, most often in rock gorges. And in order to insulate a well-maintained house, the snow leopard rips out shreds of wool from its body and covers the floor of the den with them. Leopards are born completely blind and deaf, their weight reaches half a kilogram, and in the first month the babies feed on mother's milk. In the middle of the season, the born offspring already go on their first hunt. Snow leopards become sexually mature at the age of 2-3 years.

Predator habitat

Where does the snow leopard live? The snow leopard is a territorial animal that leads a solitary lifestyle, despite the fact that females raise their offspring for quite a long time. These animals make their lairs in rock crevices or caves. Each animal lives within a certain area, which it chooses individually. It is not common for the snow leopard to show aggression towards representatives of its species on its own territory.

One or more females may live in the habitat of an adult male. The snow leopard marks its area different ways. Where is the snow leopard found? The predator often walks around its territory, visiting camps of wild ungulates and pastures. The animal moves along the same route, so in some places it appears several times throughout the day.

The snow leopard is considered the only member of the cat family that has adapted to the harsh conditions of the highlands in Central Asia. Due to the inaccessibility of its habitats, the snow leopard still remains the least studied animal. Today, the snow leopard is a representative of the Red Book of the International Union and has the status of an endangered species in all countries where it lives. There are 12 such countries in total: China, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan. In total, there are no more than 4 thousand snow leopards on the planet.

Snow leopard in Russia

In Russia, the snow leopard is found in the north of its current range. Only a few groups of snow leopards live in the mountains of the Altai-Sayan region. In addition, the predator can be found in Buryatia, Khakassia, Tyva, Transbaikalia, Irkutsk region and Krasnoyarsk region. According to experts, it is in Russia that the northernmost population group of snow leopards lives. The number of this species in Russia is approximately 2% of the total number of snow leopards in the world. It can be said that the survival of predators in Altai largely depends on genetic and spatial connections with animals in Mongolia and China.

Snow cats in Kazakhstan

The places where the snow leopard lives in Kazakhstan are distinguished by the richness and diversity of flora and fauna. Here, the snow leopard is found in open forests, among rocks and in alpine meadows, where colonies of marmots and pastures of ungulates are located. The highlands of Kazakhstan have extremely complex terrain with many cliffs, stones, precipices, gorges and snow-covered slopes. In these places there is an increased risk of avalanches and mudflows, which is why people rarely appear here. For the most part, it was thanks to this factor that the snow leopard was not exterminated in these parts. Other species of large cat animals that lived in more accessible places became extinct even before the creation of the Red Book.

Character and lifestyle of the snow leopard

In its territory, the snow cat occupies the top of the food pyramid and experiences virtually no competition from other predators. A leopard can easily cope with prey that is three times its weight. As a rule, the animal hunts alone at night, carefully crawling up to the animal from behind cover or waiting for prey in ambush, hiding behind a rock. When the distance between the predator and potential prey is reduced to several tens of meters, the leopard emerges from cover and quickly overtakes the animal with large leaps. If the snow leopard misses, it chases its prey for a maximum of 300 meters or does not chase it at all.

In the second half of the year, snow leopards regularly hunt in families: male, female and offspring. In general, snow leopards hunt only on their own territory - exceptional need can force an animal to move to a foreign territory. In times of famine, predators may hunt nearby settlements, even attacking pets. However, the main food sources for snow leopards are considered to be hares, mountain goats, wild boars, snowcocks, rams, marmots and roe deer. Leopards eat grass and other greens exclusively in the summer as a supplement to their meat diet.

In general, for snow cats, hunting is not only a way of obtaining food, but also a kind of entertainment. The snow leopard is capable of tracking down a potential victim for hours, while practically not moving. Leopards have almost no enemies, so they are not at all afraid of hunting in the dark.

Only a wild wolf can cause trouble for a leopard, but even such an animal is quite easy for a snow leopard to cope with. For people, the snow cat does not pose any threat: having noticed a person, the predator simply tries to move away unnoticed. True, in times of famine, cases of animal attacks were still recorded.

Compared to its other feline counterparts, the snow leopard has a completely friendly character. You can even train him. In addition, tamed snow leopards love to play and spend time with people. When a predator feels good, he, like domestic cats, purrs. The leopard also knows how to growl, like his famous brothers, although he does not do it very loudly.

Titles: snow leopard, snow leopard, snow leopard.
Irbis, from the Turkic dialect "irbiz", which meant "snow cat".

Area: mountains of Altai, Pamir, Tien Shan, Tibet, Himalayas, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, China.

Description: The snow leopard's fur is long (up to 12 cm long), fluffy, with a thick undercoat. The head is small. The pupils are round. The tail is long (it accounts for up to 3/7 of the total length), covered with thick fluffy hair. The female uses it to warm her kittens. Males are larger and more massive than females.

Color: the general background of the body is whitish-gray (sometimes with a yellowish tint), which perfectly camouflages the leopard from enemies and its victims. There are many small black spots on the head. On the body the spots are black-gray or black in the form of rings. Belly and inner part legs - white.

Size: body length 1.2-1.5 m, tail - 80-100 cm, height at the shoulders (at the withers) - 60 cm.

Weight: male - 45-55 kg, female - 35-40 kg.

Lifespan: in nature up to 18-20 years, in captivity up to 28 years.

Habitat: adapted to harsh conditions climatic conditions- low-snow high-mountainous alpine meadows and bare rocks at the borders of eternal snow, slopes of gorges, treeless highlands, stone placers (5000-6000 m above sea level).

Enemies: the main enemy is man. In hungry years, the snow leopard can compete for food with packs of wolves.

Food: The snow leopard hunts mountain goats and sheep, roe deer, wild boar, marmots, hares, ptarmigan, snowcocks, reindeer, moose and domestic yaks.

Behavior: Spends time in the shelter during daylight hours. The snow leopard rests in caves, rock crevices, and on low trees. Hunts at dusk and at night. Can make jumps up to 6 m in length. Vision and hearing are well developed. Loves to play and roll in the snow. After such games he rests and basks in the sun.
On average, it kills one large prey every 10-15 days and eats it for about 4 days.
When meeting a person, he tries to leave or hide.
Dense and fluffy fur on the paws helps the snow leopard run quickly through the snow and stay on the slopes of the mountains.
The trail of wild goats can migrate up to 600 km.

Social structure: The snow leopard leads a mostly solitary lifestyle.
An individual area is about 160 km 2 .

Reproduction: The female does not give birth every year. For childbirth, the female makes a warm den in deep caves, rock crevices or other places where the kittens will not be disturbed by enemies. The bottom is lined with undercoat and fur, which it pulls out. The male also takes part in raising the young. Parents do not always actively protect their offspring.

Breeding season/period: January March.

Puberty: for 2-3 years.

Pregnancy: lasts about 100 days.

Offspring: The female gives birth to 1-5 blind and deaf kittens (usually two). The weight of newborns does not exceed 500 g. Size with tail is up to 25 cm. The fur is gray-brown with spots and stripes.
Eyes open on day 5-6. At 10 days of age, kittens begin to crawl. The young leopards leave the den when they are two months old. Lactation lasts up to 4 months, but from two months the female begins to feed them with meat. At the end of lactation, kittens go hunting with their mother. Leopard cubs play a lot, especially love to hunt for their mother's tail.

Benefit/harm for humans: Snow leopard skin is highly prized. Previously, leopard fur coats in the USA cost up to 60 thousand dollars. Now leopards are also hunted for their bones, which are used in Chinese medicine.
It can be tamed, although it has a rather evil character.

Population/Conservation Status: Snow leopard throughout its range rare view, an endangered species. Listed in International IUCN Red List like an endangered species. The population size is no more than 2000 individuals.
Reasons for population decline: impoverishment food base, poaching, human development of mountain pastures, developing tourism, high market price for leopard skin and entrails.
There are several subspecies of snow leopards, which differ from each other in color, size and spotting.

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The irbis or snow leopard is an endangered large-sized predator that belongs to the mammal class and the cat family. This animal is also called a snow leopard because of its external resemblance to these representatives. Snow leopards are very beautiful and graceful. Prefer a solitary lifestyle and rarely live in groups, choosing inaccessible mountain gorges as their home.

Snow leopards are an endangered and very rare species of animal. They are listed in the Red Book. Due to their great popularity among poachers, their numbers have decreased significantly and the animals are on the verge of extinction. On everything globe there are no more than eight thousand representatives.

Hunting snow leopards is strictly prohibited and punishable by law Russian Federation.

1. Where do the snow leopard or snow leopard live?
2. The history of the snow leopard.
3. Body constitution and external features animal snow leopard.
4. What do they eat and how do they hunt?
5. Peculiarities of snow leopard reproduction and care of offspring.
6. Keeping in captivity.
7. Interesting to know: 10 interesting facts about the snow leopard.

Snow leopards prefer mountainous terrain and snow-capped mountain ranges. They live in the central parts of Asia. Representatives of the cat family can be found in the Himalayas, Tibet, Pamirs, Mongolia, etc.

Leopards prefer highlands (up to six kilometers).

On the territory of Russian vast expanses of snow leopards can be found in Siberia, the Altai mountain ranges, certain areas of Lake Baikal and the rocky gorges of the Caucasus mountains. The percentage of representatives is negligible - from 2 to 3 of the total.

China has the most a large number of snow leopards - up to 5 thousand individuals.

The history of the snow leopard

Irbis is translated from Turkic as a cat that lives in the snow.

Georges Buffon (an outstanding French scientist) first depicted this predatory beast in 1761. The scientist believed that the animal's birthplace is Persia.

The remains of the animal were found in Altai and western Mongolian territory. Later finds were discovered in the territory of modern Pakistan. This ancient predator, which was common more than one million years ago.

Uncia is the genus to which snow leopards belong. They are the first and last representatives of this genus. This is an intermediate species between the genus Panthers and small representatives of the cat family.

Body constitution and external features of the animal snow leopard

Appearance: Snow leopard has a number of similarities with a leopard. Average weight is 40 kg, body length is from one to one and a half meters. The tail of snow leopards is very long and fluffy. The animal is characterized gray color light shades and spotting.

The animal has luxurious thick fur, thanks to which the snow leopard is not afraid of even the most severe frosts. It is very long and soft. It is precisely because of the high value of its fur that the animal is on the verge of extinction. People hunted leopards for profit.

Snow leopard body constitution:

• Head small sizes proportional to the body, has a round shape.
• The eyes are very expressive, round, and large in size.
• The teeth are sharp and strong. Snow leopards have 30 teeth.
• The tail is long and fluffy.
• The body is powerful with well-developed muscles and a wide chest.
• The coat is very thick and soft.

Snow leopards They do not know how to growl like their relatives, but only slightly “purr”.

What do they eat and how do they hunt?

Snow leopard nutrition

It is a predator by nature, so it feeds on the meat of other animals. Likes to hunt at night or at dusk, as well as at dawn. Objects of their hunt:

Snow leopards love to diversify their diet with plant foods, especially in summer. Green plants- a desirable delicacy for predatory animals. A snow leopard can eat 2 kg of meat in one sitting.

Features of hunting

Snow leopards - excellent hunters , having no competition. They can cope with animals that are five times larger and more massive than the snow leopard. Solitary hunting at night is typical for them. They love to hunt for fun, and not just for food, so they are ready to hunt down the right prey for hours. When the snow leopard is ready to attack, it makes a high jump from above onto the object of the hunt.

The snow leopard strangles cattle by attacking from behind and breaking their backbones to immobilize the victim. The snow leopard does not guard or hide leftover food, as it prefers only fresh meat and enjoys the process of tracking its prey.

The snow leopard has its own inviolable territory, into which it does not allow anyone, regularly making the rounds of its vast possessions.

Snow leopards They do not move well in deep snow, so they trample down paths and constantly move along them.

The only real threat to snow leopards is humans, since it is precisely because of poachers that the numbers of these animals are very small and they are on the verge of extinction. Leopards cannot attack people and behave quite friendly towards humans. This is actively used by people who kill snow leopards because of their most valuable and rare fur.

Peculiarities of snow leopard reproduction and care of offspring

Snow leopard is ready to breed at the age of 3-4 years and it is at this age that it reaches sexual maturity. Mating season begins in February and ends in mid-spring. Attracts an individual of the opposite sex with the help of purring sounds. After the fertilization process, the male leaves his beloved.

The female approaches the process of giving birth to cubs very thoroughly: she meticulously chooses a secluded and comfortable place where she will produce her offspring; is engaged in insulating the place for birth, tearing out its wool and laying it for future cubs. The gestation period lasts no more than 3.5 months from the date of fertilization by the male.

The young mother herself raises her cubs and puts them on their feet, obtaining food and protecting her offspring. Educational process is completely entrusted to the mother's shoulders, so females have a hard time. The cub is born small (height no more than 30 cm and weight up to 500 grams) and defenseless, so it is quite difficult for him to survive. He is born blind, his eyes open only a week after birth.

The female feeds her offspring with milk for only a few months. And then the process of learning to hunt begins. The female attacks the victim, and small leopards carefully monitor her movements and listen to every gesture. Small snow leopards are very playful and prone to fights between each other. By the age of two, the young leopard becomes independent and independent, therefore most often he leaves his family at this age and switches to a solitary lifestyle.

The lifespan of the average leopard varies from 10 to 14 years. In captivity, snow leopards can live much longer - up to 21 years.

These measures are used to preserve and reproduce the animal, as well as to increase their lifespan. Snow leopards are tamed with great difficulty, because they are very freedom-loving by nature. However, representatives who were born in captivity are more amenable to the training process and have a sincere sympathy for humans.

In zoos in the Russian Federation There are only 27 representatives of these animals, and in the world’s zoos there are no more than 2 thousand.

The snow leopard requires free and well-lit space, so the height of the enclosure containing the snow leopard can reach 6 meters. We need to create as much as possible natural conditions to ensure a comfortable existence for these predators.

Leopards are fed once a day. The diet consists of meat products and live animals of small breeds (rats, mice, rabbits, chickens). They also enrich the diet with the help of vitamin and mineral complex supplements.

Interesting to know: 10 interesting facts about the snow leopard

Translated from the Turkic dialect snow leopard(or irbiz, irbish, irviz) translates as “snowy”. This royal noble beast rightfully bears the name “master of the mountains.”

Features and habitat of the snow leopard

The snow leopard is a rather large cat, with very beautiful thick fur, silver-smoky in color, the fur becomes lighter on the sides and turns white as it moves to the belly. Sometimes a slight, subtle yellowness may appear.

Large black rosette rings, small spots and specks are scattered throughout the body. This color plays the role of a kind of camouflage: the predator is excellently camouflaged on rocky slopes, among snow and ice, becoming invisible to its future prey.

Interesting feature V description of the snow leopard: to his chic long tail Most felines will envy - its length is equal to the length of the body and is more than 1 meter. The average height is approximately 60 centimeters, with females being smaller than males. Otherwise, individuals of the opposite sex differ little in appearance.

See snow leopard in the photo much easier than in wildlife: the animal prefers to lead a secretive lifestyle, and snow leopard lives usually in places inaccessible to humans: in gorges, on high rocks, near high alpine meadows.

In the warm season, it can conquer peaks over 5 thousand meters high. In winter, it often descends in search of prey. This is the only high-altitude one among the entire cat family.

The elusive nature of the predator, however, did not save him from a sad fate: the most beautiful appearance The snow leopard played a cruel joke on him - the animal too often became a victim of poachers who hunted for fur.

Now snow leopard rare animal, in some areas only 1-2 individuals survived. The snow leopard is included in the list of endangered animals in the Red Book. Habitat: mountain ranges of Mongolia, Tibet, Himalayas, Pamirs, Tien Shan, Kazakhstan. In Russia there is the Altai highlands.

Character and lifestyle of the snow leopard

Irbis - animal mainly nocturnal; during the day he sleeps in a shelter: in a cave or in a tree. Often can sleep for a day or even more. Goes hunting at dusk or in the dark.

Avoids people; when they meet, they would rather hide than attack. Only those infected with rabies can pose a serious danger to humans.

Thanks to its wide, developed paws, it moves excellently on rocks and can overcome even very steep climbs and hard-to-reach narrow rocky ledges. Moves deftly through deep snow and ice.

Lives mostly alone, occasionally joining groups for hunting. Mainly during periods of reproduction and rearing of young animals. One animal occupies an area of ​​more than a hundred square kilometers.

Can tolerate the proximity of females, but not other males. If there is enough food, it does not move long distances from the den, otherwise it can go tens of kilometers from home.

Snowy ones are quite playful, often tumble in the snow, and love to soak up the sun. The snow leopard's voice is more like a cat's purr. This beast growls muffledly, not loudly. Aggression is expressed by hissing and rumbling.

Snow leopard feeding

Snow leopard irbis excellent hunter: thanks to his subtle sense and acute vision, they easily track prey even in complete darkness. It can catch the victim in two ways: it either creeps up silently and at the last moment grabs it with its claws and teeth, or it waits for the moment and attacks, making a deft and precise jump to a distance of 5 to 10 meters. It can watch for prey in a shelter for quite a long time.

The snow leopard is a strong and powerful animal, it is able to single-handedly cope with such large ungulates as yak, roe deer, Mountain goat, argali, maral. It can kill a wild boar or, in rare cases, even a bear.

If large animals not available , snow leopard feeding smaller ones. They often attack livestock, especially during the hungry winter. One large production it lasts him for several days.

Reproduction and life expectancy of the snow leopard

In early spring In the habitats of snow leopards, you can hear booming night songs, somewhat reminiscent of the singing of March cats, only more sonorous. This is how the male calls the female.

They meet only for the mating period; further concerns about raising offspring fall on the female. Young animals are ready to breed at the age of 2-3 years. The female bears the offspring for just over 3 months; kittens are born in early summer. From two to five babies appear in a safe, warm shelter.

Kittens, like most cats, are born blind and helpless. The size of a small domestic one. They begin to see after 5-6 days. At the age of about two months, they increasingly come out of the nest to play in the sun. At the same time, the mother begins to feed them small mammals.

Young snow snow leopards They play a lot with each other and with their mother, hunt for her tail or catch up with each other with a funny hiss. These games are very important for the further development of children: this is how they prepare for adult life, learn hunting skills.

Gradually, the mother teaches the babies to hunt: by the age of six months, they spend a lot of time jointly tracking down prey. The female accompanies the grown-up children for quite a long time: in general, they are ready for adulthood by next spring.

But there are often cases when they live and hunt together for up to 2-3 years. Life expectancy of a snow leopard wildlife reaches 20 years, in zoos they can live longer.

The first snow leopards appeared in the Moscow Zoo more than 100 years ago, in 1871. At first, employees encountered a lot of difficulties in maintaining this wild beast: snow leopards died from diseases and did not reproduce.

Currently, these rare ones are successfully kept and bred in many zoos in Europe, which helps preserve the population of these. The Leningrad Zoo is home to the completely tame snow leopard Gulya.