Unit9-Part2-Reading

Ghost cats, snow leopards.

Snow leopards are the smallest of big cats.

They weigh 25 to 55 kilograms and they are one to one and a half meters long.

The high steep mountains of Central Asia are their homes.

They live in Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, India, Nepal, Russia, and China.

In the cold winter months, they come down from peaks into forests.

Snow leopards blend into their rocky mountain habitat, with their gray fur and black spots on it.

It is very hard to notice them, so in some regions, people call them ghost cats.

Their gray fur makes them look different from the other types of leopards

because the other leopards have orange or dark brown fur.

And big cats usually have brown or gold eyes, but snow leopards have light green or gray eyes.

This also helps them to blend into their habitat.

Snow leopards have several other adaptations for living on snowy slopes.

Their thick fur keeps them warm in the cold climate.

Their paws are very wide.

They help them to walk on snow without sinking into it.

The fur on their paws protects them from the cold, too.

Snow leopards protect their faces from the cold with their long, thick tails when they are resting.

These cats are mostly active at dawn, or when the sky begins to get darker in the evening.

They usually hunt and eat sheep and goats, and they leap from rock to rock in order to chase goats.

They can also feed on rabbits, rats, beavers, and big birds.

If a snow leopard can't find any food in its territory, it attacks and eats the livestock on nearby farms.

Unlike lions, snow leopards are solitary.

They live away from each other, and they can't roar.

They are very shy, and they are afraid of people, so they stay away from them.

But some people still hunt them for their beautiful coats, and farmers kill them to protect their animals.