kittycat's+animal+report+writing

snow leopard poem =__//Favorite Animals//__=
 * 1) ===//**Siamese Cat**//===
 * 2) ===//**Golden Reteiver**//===
 * 3) ===//**Lions**//===
 * 4) ===//**Tigers**//===
 * 5) ===//**Cheathas**//===
 * 6) ===//**Leopards**//===
 * 7) ===//**Jagaurs**//===
 * 8) ===//**Pilot Whales**//===
 * 9) ===//**Gray Dolphins**//===
 * 10) ===//**Gray Wolf**//===

=**__//Physical Charateristics//__**= = = =**//Life Cycle//**=
 * 1) ===//**The snow leopard has many special adaptations for its harsh environment.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Its fur is long and dense and has great insulation for the sub-zero temperatures.**//===
 * 3) ===//**The snow leopard has a gray coat with black spots and rosettes, and a white stomach.**//===
 * 4) ===//**Its tail is long which provides balance in its leaps up to 35 ft.**//===
 * 5) ===//**Like its coat, the fur on its tail is long and dense, and it wraps its tail around its body, mouth, and nose in extreme temperatures.**//===
 * 6) ===//**The paws of the snow leopard are large and furry, which is helpful for insulation, protection for rocks, and for traction in the snow and ice.**//===
 * 7) ===//**The front paws are larger then the back ones.**//===
 * 8) ===//**Unlike the leopard, the snow leopard can not roar.**//===
 * 9) ===//**The snow leopard is 47 to 59 inches in length, while its tail is 31 to 39 inches long.**//===


 * 1) ===//21 years//===
 * 2) ===Mating season January-March; gestation 3-3.5 months; 1-4 cubs born blind, remain with female through their first winter.===
 * 3) ===Mature at about 4 years.===
 * 4) ===Life span up to 15 years in captivity.===

=//**Reproduction and Cubs**//=
 * 1) ===Females mature at around three years of age, and males around four.===
 * 2) ===//Snow leopards mate in December to March.//===
 * 3) ===//After a gestation period of about 13-15 weeks, the snow leopard will give birth to 1-5 cubs, blind and helpless, in a rocky shelter.//===
 * 4) ===//Hey are weaned by three months, and leave their mother by the age of two to make territories of their own.//===
 * 5) ===//**Litter Size - 2-3 average**//===

=//**Behavior**//=
 * 1) ===//**As solitary creatures, snow leopards pair only during the breeding season.**//===
 * 2) ===//**They do not roar.**//===
 * 3) ===//**Snow leopards are most active in the early morning and late afternoon.**//===
 * 4) ===//**They den in rocky caverns and crevices**//===

=//**Diet**//=
 * 1) ===//**The snow leopard eats wild sheep, wild boars, gazelles, hares, markhor, bobak, tahr, marmots, mice and, deer.**//===
 * 2) ===//**The snow leopard is a carnivore, which means that it eats meat.**//===
 * 3) ===//**The snow leopard can eat an animal three times the size of itself.**//===
 * 4) ===//**The male eats the prey it kills; if he sees his family, he will back off and leave as they eat.**//===
 * 5) ===//**The snow leopard will drag the carcass of a large animal to its marked territory and eat it over several days.**//===

= = =//**Habitat**//=
 * 1) ===//**The snow leopard ranges includes alpine meadows, treeless rocky mountains and rhododendron forests.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Most of their range occurs in Tibet and other parts of China associated with steep rocky slopes, with arid shrub land, grassland or steppe vegetation.**//===
 * 3) ===//**Occasionally, in parts of their habitats they visit open coniferous forests, but generally avoid dense forests.**//===

=__//**Threats**//__=


 * 1) ===//**Despite Nepal 's continual effort to save the snow leopard, its long-term viability is threatened by the conflict from livestock depredation.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Retaliatory killings, poaching, and loss of habitat because of high density of livestock in grazing areas.**//===
 * 3) ===//**The snow leopard-human conflict is one of the main threats to its survival because it is known to kill sheep, goats, horses, and yak calves.**//===
 * 4) ===//**Degradation of snow leopard habitat continues due to year-round grazing pressure following the closure of the Tibetan border some 30 years ago.**//===
 * 5) ===//**As snow leopards are opportunistic predators, they often kill livestock because of high encounter rates and ineffective guarding by herders.**//===
 * 6) ===//**Poaching is primarily associated with the trade in snow leopard pelts, bones, and body parts that are used in oriental medicine.**//===
 * 7) ===//**As an illicit trans-border market exists between northern frontiers of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, poaching has become lucrative.**//===

=__//**Adaptations**//__= =//**Status**//=
 * 1) ===//**The snow leopard's coat varies in thickness from summer to winter.**//===
 * 2) ===//**A thicker coat,is called prime, develops to help insulate itself during the winte**//===
 * 3) ===//**The surfaces of its paws are covered by a cushion of hair for excellent traction in snow and ice.**//===
 * 4) ===//**These animals usually stalk their prey and later spring upon it.**//===
 * 5) ===//**The snow leopard has a long tail to enable it to maintain better balance and accomplish more accurate jumps.**//===
 * 6) ===//**Also, its tint of white helps it blend in and camouflage with its snowy winter environment.**//===
 * 7) ===//**Its large ears help adapt to life in the cold Himalayas.**//===
 * 8) ===//**Always shy and wary, with keen senses, the leopard's ability to hide makes it harder to track down than a lion or tiger.**//===
 * 1) ===//**Endangered,Little is known about the snow leopard, and what we do know is mainly through observing them in captivity.**//===
 * 2) ===//**The population may be anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000.**//===
 * 3) ===//**What ever the population is now, it is declining.**//===
 * 4) ===//**Their habitat is being destroyed by poor farmers.**//===
 * 5) ===//**After their habitat is invaded, and food is scarce, the snow leopard may go for the farmer's livestock, resulting in the snow leopard getting shot.**//===
 * 6) ===//**Another major threat is skinning; a snow leopard coat can be sold for up to $60,000.**//===

=__//**Population**//__= = = =//**Description**//= = =
 * 1) ===//**Extremely rare in most of their range due to the demand for skins, an estimated 3,000 to 7,000 are left in the wild, and about 370 in captivity.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Although trade in snow leopard furs is illegal, it continues, threatening the snow leopard�s existence.**//===
 * 1) ===//**Well known for its beautiful fur, the snow leopard has a soft gray coat, covered with ringed spots of black on brown.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Its tail is heavy with fur and the bottom of its paws are covered with fur for protection against snow and cold.**//===

=**//Social Organization//**=

=//**Niche**//=
 * 1) ===//**Snow leopards are solitary cats except for breeding season.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Each cat keeps a well-marked territory that may overlap**//===
 * 3) ===//**extensively with the territory of other snow leopards.**//===
 * 4) ===//**Females bear two to three young every other year beginning at age three.**//===


 * 1) ===//**Carnivorous: primary prey are mountain sheep, but also eats small mammals and birds.**//===
 * 2) ===//**Usually stalks prey, then springs from 20-50 feet away.**//===
 * 3) ===//**Solitary; most active early morning, late afternoon and evening.**//===
 * 4) ===//**Territories relatively small and overlapping, but altitude variation provides large surface area and increases effective territory size.**//===

=**//When snow leopards meet//**=
 * 1) ===//**Living in such rocky terrain, it isn't easy for snow leopards to find one another.**//===
 * 2) ===//**So the cats advertise their presence by leaving distinct signals along their routes.**//===
 * 3) ===//**The cats use scent marking and claw raking on boulders and tree trunks.**//===
 * 4) ===//**Sometimes they will deposit urine and/or feces samples in scraped soil depressions as messages.**//===
 * 5) ===//**Even cheek rubbing can spread scent, so all these smell "advertisements" can remain for days and weeks to mark off ranges.**//===

=//**SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS**//=
 * 1) ===//**Hunted for fur and for bones and body parts, used as substitutes for tiger bones in traditional medicine.**//===
 * 2) ===//**International trade in pelts now virtually ceased, but domestic trade may still be a problem.**//===
 * 3) ===//**Predation on livestock locally significant.**//===

__//**28 facts on paper for my animal report.**//__
That is awesome how you put how much Facts is on your wiki well thank you for having it to be a lot easier for all of us instead of counting all of your facts THANK YOU! ~*wolfpack~*