Wild Ones for 
December 1998/January 1999

Samson and D'Brug
Snow Leopards

Samson and his brother D'brug were born May 22, 1991 at the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville, IN. They joined us at Shambala on May 16, 1996.  At first they lived together until one day the brothers decided they really didn't like each other, and so now they reside on adjoining compounds with special air-conditioned den boxes. Samson is the one with the pink nose, otherwise it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

Even the remote sanctuary of the rare snow leopard (panthera uncia uncia) is endangered. Well-suited for the rocky, cold mountain reaches of the Himalayas, the snow leopard's fur is long and thick. The basic color is either pale gray or bale brown-gray. Black markings appear as solid spots on the face, neck and legs, as well as rosettes with darker gray centers on the flanks upward to three rows of elongated spots and rings down the back to the base of the tail. The length of the head and body of the snow leopard is from 3 to 4 feet, and the tail is nearly another 3 feet long. Adults will weigh from 55 to 165 pounds. Snow leopards are carnivores, preferring mountain goat, sheep, boars and deer. In captivity, the snow leopard can live for more than 10 years

Snow leopards are predominantly nocturnal, and usually hunt alone - For the most part, they are solitary animals except at mating season, late in the winter. Being a prodigious leaper and able to leap up to 15 yards horizontally and vertically, the snow leopard easily lives at altitudes in excess of 10,000 feet in the rugged mountains of the Himalayas and Upper Mongolia. Ironically, its superb adaptation to only one environment also threatens its existence since it can adapt to no other. Their luxurious fur is such sought after: even though they are protected, tourists can still buy skins in India and Pakistan though it is illegal to process the snow leopard's fur.

A worldwide campaign has been mounted by conservationists to save this magnificent creature, in grave danger of extinction. Scientists estimate that only about 250 survive in Pakistan, 300 in Nepal, and another 300 in Mongolia There are almost 200 living in zoos. Unless their habitat is protected, and the illegal trade of fur effectively stopped, the snow leopard cannot hope to survive in the wild.

All of us at Shambala would like to join Samson and D'Brug in thanking you for your kind and generous support.