Snow leopards inhabit a large geographic range of roughly 2.3 million square kilometers and are sporadically distributed throughout the high mountain ranges of Central Asia. They are found anywhere from the Himalayas to southern and western Mongolia and South Russia, though 60% of their range occurs in China.

This species is well known for their agility and balance using their long tail as a rutter. They use these abilities inhabiting steep, rocky and broken terrain. Cliffs and major ridgelines are preferred day time resting spots for snow leopards. They live in alpine and subalpine zones from elevations of 900 to 5500 meters or higher, generally higher. In the winter, they may migrate to lower elevations. This species typically avoids dense forest cover and cultivated fields, but are often associated with open coniferous forests.

Snow leopards are solitary and typically do not associate with mates unless it is mating season.
It often takes 2 years to raise cubs so females will only reproduce every other year. Breeding in the wild is strongly seasonal, occurring during late winter from January to March. Cubs are born sometime between April and June. Generally, the litter consists of 2 to 3 cubs, but in rare cases they can give birth to up to 5 cubs.

Fun Facts

Snow leopards are solitary and the only prolonged social contact occurs with females raising their cubs. Due to the elusiveness of the species, it is difficult to accurately determine the average lifespan for them in the wild. Under human care snow leopards have lived to around 21 years of age.