The places where snow leopards live cover about 2 million square kilometres in 12 countries. Snow leopards live high in the mountains of Central Asia, and in the high mountains they are usually found at 3,000 metres or more above sea level. They keep mainly to cliffs and rocky slopes, and they are shy and hard to find.

A snow leopard's home range is the area where it lives and hunts. As of November 2026, a home range can be over 1,000 square kilometres where prey is scarce. In winter some snow leopards move to lower ground, following their prey. As of November 2026, a snow leopard can travel more than 25 miles in a single night, and snow leopards are most active at dawn and dusk.

As of November 2026, estimates of how many snow leopards live in the wild run from roughly 3,900 to 6,500, and no one knows the number for sure. As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List lists the snow leopard as Vulnerable. Snow leopards have been hunted for their fur.

A snow leopard's thick fur keeps it warm. The fur is up to about 12 centimetres long, and it is the densest and longest of all the big cats. The coat has spots and rosettes, which are larger rings that circle smaller spots.

A snow leopard has wide, furry paws that work like snow shoes. It also has a very long tail, up to about one metre. It wraps its tail around its body to keep warm.

A snow leopard hunts by creeping up on its prey and then ambushing it. It can take prey that is two to three times its own weight, and it can leap as far as six times its body length.

Blue sheep and ibex are the main food of snow leopards. They also eat smaller animals, such as marmots and birds. A snow leopard eats slowly and stays with its food for several days.

Snow leopards mate in the first months of the year, between January and mid-March, and a mother snow leopard is pregnant for about three months. She has her cubs in a sheltered rocky den, and a cub's eyes open when it is about seven days old.

A cub is ready to eat solid food at two months old and begins to follow its mother and learn to hunt at three months old. Cubs leave their mother when they are 18 to 22 months old. Snow leopards are old enough to have cubs when they are about two to three years old.

Words to know

• prey: hunted animals
• densest: most thick
• rosettes: rings of spots
• Vulnerable: a risk level
• ibex: a mountain animal
• estimates: best guesses