Sleepless Travels Reloaded

The snow leopards are sooo cute. Their fur is very thick and bushy, expecially the tail Very beautiful animals. Although the initial reaction was somewhat dampened when we saw both shitting in front of us XD

Unfortunately it was very hard to get a clear shot because they were enclosed in plexiglass (badly scratched and foggy) and cage. I tried my best, but the photos still look foggy.

From the zoo site:

The Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia or Panthera uncia), is a large cat native to the mountain ranges central and Southern Asia. Well known for its beautiful fur, the snow leopard has a soft grey coat with ringed spots and rosettes of black on
brown. The fur turns white in the winter.

The life span of a snow leopard is normally 15-18 years, but in captivity they can live up to 20+ years. Snow Leopards weigh and average of 40-55kg.
The total estimated wild population of the snow leopard is between 3,500 and 7,000 in the wild with 500-600 in zoos.

The National Zoo is home to 2 Snow Leopards, named Shiva and Bhutan.

Cheetahs

The king cheetah did look pretty awesome. Both animals were so sleek and fast~~
They were so nimble and light footed it looked as if they weighed nothing.
You can go in an pet the cheetahs for a rather substantial amount of money (goes towards zoo projects I guess)
But then probably I’d be pretty nervous about going into the same enclosure as a cheetah >_>

From the zoo site:

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is an endangered member of the cat family. It is the fastest of all land animals and although its fastest speed is unknown, it can reach speeds of more than 105km/per
hour in short bursts of up to 450-500 meters, as well as being able to accelerate from
0 to 110km/per hour in three seconds (faster than most ’super cars’).
Cheetah sizes vary and range between 45 and 60kg. Males are usually slightly larger though
it is almost impossible to tell male cheetahs from females, based on their size and weight.

The National Zoo & Aquarium is home to 4 cheetahs: Tanzi, Robi, Shasa, November and
1 King Cheetah, named Jama. Jama is one of only 25-30 King Cheetahs in existence and
maybe 2-3 in the world that can be interacted with by members of the public.

Cougars and snow leopards

From the zoo site:

The Cougar (Puma concolor) or Puma is the largest of the ’small cats.’
The cougar has the largest range of any wild cat in the world. The cougar also has the largest range of any ‘New World’
land animal; spanning all the way from Yukon in Canada to the Southern Andes.

The cougar’s life span is estimated at being between 8-13 years. They grow to around 8-9 feet in length and weigh an average of 45kg (female) and 70kg (male). Cougars have an impressive leap ability of approximately 18-20 feet (vertical) and 30-40 feet (horizontal). Cougar numbers estimate 30,000 - 50,000 in the wild.

The National Zoo & Aquarium is home to 2 cougars, named Cree and Cheyanne.

Didn’t manage to get decent photos of the tigers, lions and tigon (which are crosses between tigers and lions. Did you know if a tigon/liger is responding to a tiger it will do it with a tiger call, and if it’s to a lion it wil do it with a lion call? How cool is that?)

The Tigon is a hybrid cross between a female lion (Panthera leo), and a male tiger ( Panthera tigris).
Tigons can exhibit characteristics of both parents: they can have both spots from the
mother and stripes from the father. Tigons weigh an average of 150kg.
A female tigon (Noelle) born in 1978, shared an enclosure in the Shambala Reserve
with a male Siberian Tiger called Anton, in the belief that she was sterile.
In 1983, Noelle produced a ti-tigon named Nathaniel.
Male tigons are sterile while the females are generally fertile. Because fertile ligers
and tigons are only female, a liger and tigon can not reproduce.

The National Zoo & Aquarium is home to a male tigon, named Asta.

(See other National Zoo entries here.)