Snow leopards unleashed at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park

28/10/2015 in Highland Wildlife Park

RZSS Highland Wildlife Park welcomed a pair of endangered snow leopards to the Park in July and they have recently entered into their new custom built enclosure for the first time.

Their new home is a large hill-top enclosure that overlooks the Spey and the Cairngorm mountains, and consists of a large grassy plateau, a cliff face and plenty of space to roam as well as an additional public walkway that gives visitors the opportunity to see the beautiful cats at close hand.

The snow leopards, Chan and Animesh, first went on show to the public on Friday 24 July, but were living separately whilst the finishing touches were being made to the second part of their permanent enclosure.

Douglas Richardson, Head of Living Collections at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park, said:

“It’s wonderful to see our pair of snow leopards settling well in their new enclosure. We’ve had the spot in mind for snow leopards for years and it’s great that they’ve taken to the space we have created for them. The new enclosure is purpose-built to replicate their natural environment, with a steep cliff face and rugged terrain echoing their hunting grounds 9,800 and 17,000 feet up in the high, rugged mountains of Central Asia. The new enclosure provides our pair with plenty of natural enrichment and room to explore.”

Situated right next door to the snow leopards’ enclosure is a group of Turkmenian markhors, a type of wild goat which is the natural prey of snow leopards in the wild. When the pair of snow leopards are in their holding pens, the plan is to temporarily let the markhor into the snow leopards’ enclosure to graze and leave scent marks. These scent marks will then provide the snow leopards with a positive form of environmental enrichment, encouraging natural predatory behaviour that these animals would display in the wild.

Chan and Animesh are a recent prominent addition to the RZSS Highland Wildlife Park collection, arriving after RZSS signed a three year agreement with the Snow Leopard Trust and Nordens Ark in Sweden, who coordinate the overarching European breeding programme. The agreement is a joint project focusing on Pallas’s cats and snow leopards, and involves field research being carried out to both aid conservation efforts and provide an educational tool for these amazing species.

Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, it is estimated that there are as few as 3,500 to 7,000 snow leopards left in the wild, making the 400 or so animals in the international managed zoo population all the more important. The species is specifically adapted to living in cold and mountainous environments, with thick fur and wide paws which act as snow shoes to evenly distribute their weight for walking on snow, as well as a thick, bushy tail used for balance and grip.