Dusty when he was a puppy, slapping another Australian Shepherd. Hhaha

Here’s another photo of the four tiger cubs. The second one from the left is definitely my favorite.

Some South China Tiger cubs born in a China zoo this year. These four have their whole species on their shoulders.

Taking a break from snow leopards to show you guys my puppy; Dusty. He’s a little older so he’s not as fluffly, but he’s still a little pimp :D

OO RLLYY? Haha, thought these two were priceless.

So I want to start off today by giving a HUGE thanks to emilyhaueisen for the shoutout on her page. It means a lot to me that people are actually reading what I write and enjoy it at the same time. And thanks to the people that started following me recently, again the support means a ton :)

So today I wanted to talk about the elusive but kick-ass Snow Leopard. These animals have to be one of the coolest ones alive, if they weren’t so endangered and dangerous I would probably want one as a pet… Ok that’s cruel but they are just that cool. Anyways, these amazing animals range from south to central Asia and live in some really tough environments. They have adapted extraordinarily well to the extreme cold that surrounds them daily, with a very thick fur coat and and other adaptions to minimize heat loss (small ears, fur on paws). They usually hunt the other animals that inhabit their territory, but as more and more humans encroach on their land; the more and more snow leopards are starting to switch their prey base to domesticated animals. This shift in predation habits has caused even more trouble for Snow Leopards. They now not only have to worry about being poached for their fur and organs, but they are also hunted by farmers for just being nuisances. These needless killings have been chipping away at their population since 1972, the year when they were placed on the endangered species list. There are now currently an estimated 4,500 to 6,000 snow leopards left in the wild. I think I had more kids in my high school than there are snow leopards in the world, which is a shame.

There are things people are doing though. For example, the Snow Leopard Trust is a very influential group in the protection of these breath-taking cats. They have been around for 25 years and are constantly conducting research on the leopards, as well as teaching local communities about different ways they can safely live with the snow leopards. If you want to help them out then check their website at: http://www.snowleopard.org/where you can make a small donation which would go a long way. There is also a book by Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop – “Saving the Ghost of the Mountain – an expedition among snow leopards in Mongolia”  which I’m going to definitely buy. It talks about a mans journey though conserving the snow leopard, with a particular aim at the younger crowd so it sounds pretty entertaining.

So yeah, I hope you guys learned a bit about the snow leopard and ways you can help. These majestic animals need to be here for good, and we should be able to make that happen!

Thanks for reading,

Danny

…I wonder if it’s some good gossip?