A pastel drawing on blue paper - this is part of a big cat series I am thinking of making which will be concentrating on the faces of the big cats and their eyes - with grateful thanks for the kind permission to reference to the lovely photo [link] by


THE FINISHED PAINTING IS A CHRISTMAS 2007 DEDICATION TO ALL MY FRIENDS ON DA FOR ALL THE WARMTH AND INSPIRATION I HAVE BEEN GIVEN HERE.

Snow Leopard (Uncia Uncia)

Habitat: Snow leopards usually live high in the mountains. They are found ranging in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikstan, and Uzbekistan.

Appearance: Snow leopards are known for their beautiful coat color and pattern. Their fur is a dusty grey with dark grey rosettes and spots. The snow leopard sheds twice a year; their summer coat having shorter and thinner fur than the thick and warm winter one. In the winter they use their tails as a blanket, wraping them arround their paws to keep them warm.

Size: Snow leopards can grow up to 7 feet in length (with a tail of up to 40 inches).

Population: There is said to be only 5,000 of these magnificent big cats left in the wild today. Even so their numbers are greatly declining.

Threats: The most important threats facing the snow leopard is lack of prey. Its wild mountain prey, such as goats and deer, is being hunted by humans. Other prey is poisoned, thus poisoning the snow leopard when it eats the prey. Earlier there was a grat demand on snow leopard pelts to make fur coats, but recently the demand on them has almost dissapeared. Sometimes snow leopard bones are used in traditional Chinese medicine to replace tiger bones, but due to the rarity of the snow leopard this hardly ever happens.


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