Reproduction & development

Snow leopards usually roam their extensive territories on their own. The exception is females with their cubs, and young animals who stay with their siblings for a while after separating from their mother. During the mating season from January to March, snow leopards attract attention with scent marks and howling mating calls. Once a male and female have found each other, they stay close together for a few days and mate several times a day during this period. They then go their separate ways.

After a gestation period of 93 to 110 days, the female gives birth to two to three cubs (in very rare cases up to five), usually in the shelter of a rock cave. The cubs are blind and helpless straight after birth. They are suckled for around five months. At the age of about three months they leave the cave for the first time and explore their surroundings. They learn all essential behaviours from their mother, most importantly hunting. Young snow leopards only become fully independent at around two years of age, when they seek their own territory.