Scientific Name - Panthera Uncia

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A rare cat, the Snow Leopard is a large, graceful cat with a long, lithe build weighing around 150 pounds.  Its coat is smoke grey with grey spots in broken rosettes.  Their feet act as snowshoes and they have tremendous power in their rear legs, capable of jumping more than 40 feet off the ground.  The Snow Leopard's nasal cavities are large, enabling them to breathe oxygen in the cold air of the higher altitiudes. The Snow Leopard may be found above the tree line in the high mountains of central Asia, where it hunts by day, from the ground, and seeks grazing animals and large birds. Little is known about this cat, partly because of its rarity and partly because of its habitat: only a brave, mountain climbing zoologist can study it in the wild.  Some zoologists classify the snow leopard as a lesser cat, sticking with the genus uncia, as its hyoid bones are intermediate between the two extremes: it can roar softly (though louder than the clouded leopard).  Most zoologists, however, please it in the genus panthera, and classify it as a greater cat.

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