Rare Snow Leopards Have Their Day in the Sun

COURT HOUSE– While encroachment by man on their habitat and poaching is decreasing the number of Snow Leopards on our planet, they are thriving at the County Zoo and will be honored Saturday Aug. 13.
Special events begin at 10 a.m. as part of Snow Leopard Conservation Day here and at other zoos across the country.
The County Zoo houses a family of five with two cubs born in 2010 and a recent addition, a single cub born May 12. He is currently residing with his mother in a den in the Savannah section of the zoo.
Zoo Director Dr. Hubert Paluch told the Herald the Snow Leopards are a very endangered cat in the wild. The event is scheduled to increase awareness of the Snow Leopard’s plight.
Eastern Asia is the normal habitat for the moderately –sized cats that weigh in at less 100 pounds, said Paluch. As their name implies, they are at home in a snowy habitat.
New Jersey’s hot summers provide more of a challenge for the Snow Leopards who have the ability to shed their heavy coats which sometimes become fur coats in the hands of illegal poachers, said Paluch. He said they enjoy playing in the snow.
Snow Leopard cubs born in zoos in the U.S. average from eight to 15 per year, he said. Paluch said he has handled the three-month old cub, giving it vaccinations.
“As it gets older, it’s going to be a little more difficult,” he said.
The mother, Himani, is more difficult to handle with her offspring on hand, said Paluch. Most of the time both adult cats “are pretty mellow,” he said. The father, Vijay, is not currently housed with mother and cub.
In the wild, the Snow Leopards hunt down small prey. The cats eat a commercially prepared, beef-based diet at the County Zoo which includes vitamin and mineral supplements.
A Snow Leopard conservation group will be on hand for the event at the County Zoo.
The cats have been sharing the spotlight at the zoo this summer with a rare creature, an albino alligator, found in the Southern U.S.
“In the wild, they would probably be somebody’s prey or they may have difficulty getting prey,” said Paluch.
The gator lives indoors at the zoo, unable to tolerate sunlight. Not a lot of information has been gathered on albino alligators, he said, with few living in captivity.
Their lifespan and age of maturity is unknown since they were discovered less than 20 years ago.