The Secret Love Lives of Wild Snow Leopards

It’s that time of year again in the high mountains of Central Asia. No, not Valentine’s Day but something similar in the big cat world. It’s snow leopard mating season. And a bit more than three months later comes snow leopard cub season. The above recent video capture of collared female snow leopard, Presnel and her three cubs was a good opportunity to ask Senior Scientist Dr. Örjan Johansson and Assistant Director of Science Dr. Gustaf Samelius to share some of their insights into snow leopard mating habits and reproduction.

Dagina: Snow Leopard and Scientific Pioneer

She was first photographed by camera traps when she was still a cub, wore GPS tracking collars on two separate occasions and has successfully raised at least two litters of cubs: Dagina may be the world’s most comprehensibly studied wild snow leopard. At nine years old, she is still going strong, and contributing to cutting-edge science.

Mates or Munchies – What Drives Big Cats’ Spatial Behavior?

Most big cats are territorial, with males commonly using larger home ranges than females. But what is driving the spatial behavior of these cats? A new study published in the journal Ecosphere compares spatial data from snow leopards and pumas to better understand what is governing their territorial behavior. Two factors stand out: abundance of prey and access to potential mates. However, the way they work together is not what researchers expected.