雪豹的英语介绍

外貌

ThesnowleopardisamoderatelylargecatnativetothemountainrangesofSouthAsiaandCentralAsia.Theclassificationofthisspecieshasbeensubjecttochangeanditsexacttaxonomicpositionwillnotberesolveduntilfurtherstudiesareconducted.

Snowleopardslivebetween3,000and5,500metres(9,800and18,000ft)abovesealevelintherockymountainrangesofCentralAsia.Theirsecretivenaturemeansthattheirexactnumbersareunknown,butithasbeenestimatedthatbetween3,500and7,000snowleopardsexistinthewildandbetween600and700inzoosworldwide.

Snowleopardsaresmallerthantheotherbigcatsbut,likethem,exhibitarangeofsizes,generallyweighingbetween27and54kilograms(60and120lb).Bodylengthrangesfrom75to130centimetres(30to50in),withthetailaddinganadditional75to90percentofthatlength.

Snowleopardshavelongthickfur,whosebasecolourvariesfromsmokygreytoyellowishtan,withwhitishunderparts.Theyhavedarkgreytoblackopenrosettesontheirbodywithsmallspotsofthesamecolorontheirheadsandlargerspotsontheirlegsandtail.Unusuallyamongcats,theireyesarepalegreenorgreyincolour.

Snowleopardsshowseveraladaptationsforlivinginacoldmountainousenvironment.Theirbodiesarestocky,theirfuristhick,andtheirearsaresmallandrounded,allofwhichhelptominimizeheatloss.Theirpawsarewide,whichdistributestheirweightbetterforwalkingonsnow,andhavefurontheirundersidestoincreasetheirgriponsteepandunstablesurfaces;italsohelpstominimizeheatloss.Snowleopards'tailsarelongandflexible,helpingthemtomaintaintheirbalancewhichisveryimportantintherockyterraintheyinhabit;thetailsarealsoverythickduetostorageoffats,andareverythicklycoveredwithfurwhichallowsthemtobeusedlikeablankettoprotecttheirfaceswhenasleep.

Thesnowleopardhasashortmuzzleanddomedforehead,containingunusuallargenasalcavitiesthathelptheanimalbreathethethincoldairoftheirmountainousenvironment.

Snowleopardscannotroar,despitepossessingsomeossificationofthehyoidbone.Thisossificationwaspreviouslythoughttobeessentialforallowingthebigcatstoroar,butnewstudiesshowthattheabilitytoroarisduetoothermorphologicalfeatures,especiallyofthelarynx,whichareabsentinthesnowleopard.Snowleopardvocalizationsincludehisses,chuffing,mews,growls,andwailing.

Populationandprotectedareas现状

Thetotalwildpopulationofthesnowleopardwasestimatedatonly4,080to6,590individualsbyMcCarthyetal.2003(seetablebelow).Manyoftheseestimatesareroughandoutdated.

In1972theInternationalUnionforConservationofNature(IUCN)placedthesnowleopardonitsRedListofThreatenedSpeciesasgloballyEndangered;thesamethreatcategorywasappliedintheassessmentconductedin2008.

Therearealso600-700snowleopardsinzoosaroundtheworld.（现存数量参见附图）

Conservation保护

Therearenumerousagenciesworkingtoconservethesnowleopardanditsthreatenedmountainecosystems.TheseincludetheSnowLeopardTrust,theSnowLeopardConservancy,theSnowLeopardNetwork,andthePantheraCorporation.Thesegroupsandnumerousnationalgovernmentsfromthesnowleopard'srange,non-profitsanddonorsfromaroundtheworldrecentlyworkedtogetheratthe10thInternationalSnowLeopardConferenceinBeijing.Theirfocusonresearch,communityprogramsinsnowleopardregionsandeducationprogramsareaimedatunderstandingthecat'sneedsaswellastheneedsofthevillagersandherdercommunitiesimpactingsnowleopards'livesandhabitat.