Snow Leopard
Uncia uncia

The luxurious thick fur of this big cat which lives in the Himalayan Mountains of Central Asia is both its life and demise. To keep warm in the freezing high altitudes, snow leopards have extremely lush fur. But this fur is prized by humans for coats and so this gorgeous wild cat has been hunted illegally to the point of near extinction. Combined with habitat loss for its prey which means less available for them to eat, it is believed there are less than 2500 individuals of this large secretive cat left in the wild - making them highly endangered. Small groups of them can still be found in Bhutan, Uzbekistan, China, Russia and Afghanistan as well as other tiny populations in Central Asia. While illegal to sell, snow leopard skins have been found in tourist shops in China. Before you buy any fur in China, please be certain you know what you are really buying!

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