Thursday, February 12, 2015

Species 1: Snow Leopards

The snow leopard is a beautiful creature. With bright white fur, piercing yellow eyes, and dark black spots, you cannot deny its beauty. Just look.
Fierce, I know. Now you may be saying, "I don't really know much about snow leopards.... I wish I could learn more." 

WELL DON'T WORRY!
That's why I'm here.










Located in Central Asia, the snow leopard inhabits cold environments. Their thick fur acts as insulation and there wide fur-covered feet make natural snow shoes. Snow leopards are on the top of their food chain acting as deadly predators. Their large powerful legs can jump as far as 50 feet!

Soaring
These powerful predators prey on blue sheep and mountain ibex found in the Himalayas. Although they can kill creatures three times their weight, they are still lazy cats, as a result they also eat smaller game such as hares, birds, and marmots.

However, you may be saying, if we have such a powerful beautiful cat why are they endangered? What is threatening them? Well the cats are a bit stupid. They let the laziness get the best of them and sometimes prey on domestic animals. I mean wouldn't you want to taste one of the fat juicy sheep that seem to walk around in groups for no reason? I know I would.

Well, if you know anything about cause and effect, the snow leopards do not get away with eating free food. They are punished by the herders and farmers who are forced to retaliate to protect their animals.
The enemy

"But Justin, we have to stop the cruel killings of these snow leopards. Why can't the farmers just protect their sheep better with out killing the cats?" 

 Well, good question. And in fact the answer is they can! The World Wildlife Fund is working with communities to monitor the leopard activity and help prevent domestic animal attacks. You can help by donating and informing others about the leopards.

If you wish to learn more about snow leopards check out National Geographic's info page. You can also receive a free snow leopard stuffed animal if you give me free lunch for 3 days. (Disclaimer: may or may not be scam) I hope you learned a little bit about snow leopards!




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4 comments:

  1. mtofpcFebruary 18, 2015 at 7:56 PM

    I know it may seem harsh but I think that the farmers are helping them by showing that they need to hunt and not to be lazy. It should be a matter of time before they learn to hunt like old habits.
    ps loved the cute video

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    1. Justin TFebruary 23, 2015 at 8:31 PM

      This is a nice opinion, but I don't think anyone wants to hurt the cats, rather its more an act of self-defense. I tried to make a serious situation funny which can cause confusion. I think the leopards are more saving their energy as instinct rather than truly being lazy. But yes, the farmers should not have to lose their sheep to appease to the leopards.

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  2. Nicole ShimFebruary 19, 2015 at 7:31 PM

    This was really interesting. Especially the video at the bottom, TOO CUTE!!! But it felt like there was a kind of jump in the content when you suddenly went from "how can the farmers protect their sheep without killing the cats" to "we can help by donating!" You didn't really provide what the farmers could do, I guess...? Still, it was fun to read :)

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    1. Justin TFebruary 23, 2015 at 8:29 PM

      Thank you for the feedback, I will try my best to elaborate more in the future of how the issue can be dealt with better. I tried to pinpoint that the World Wildlife Foundation is working with communities to prevent the Leopards from striking out, but I could of been more clear. And yes, the leopards are extremely cute.

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