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SOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN THE SNOW LEOPARD AND ITS IMPL ICATIONS

FOR CAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

He len F reeman

Wood land Pa rk Zoo log i ca l Ga rdensSea t t l e , Wash ing ton

The f i r s t snow l eopa rd (Pan the ra unc ia ) a r r i ved i n t he Un i t ed

S ta tes a t t he B ronx Zoo i n 1903 . I t was cons ide red a zoo log i ca l

r a r i t y t hen i t i s s t i l l cons ide red t ha t t oday .

F ron t he beg inn ing a behav io ra l d i f f e rence was no t i ced be tween

the spo t t ed l eopa rd and t he snow l eopa rd . Tha t d i f f e rence was i n

temperamen t . The d i r ec to r o f t he B ronx Zoo a t t ha t t i ne w ro te :

The snow l eopa rd i s as good - tempered as a house -ca t and as

p lay fu l as a k i t t en , I t i s peace - l ov i ng .

I f we we re t o w r i t e t ha t t odaY

leopa rd exh ib i t s a h i gh deg ree

inc i dence o f agg ress ion . Th i s

the same th i ng .

we wou ld i ns tead say : The snow

o f soc ia l behav io r w i t h a l ow

i s j us t a f anc ie r way o f say ing

F rom 1903 un t i l app rox ima te l y 1970 , no t t oo much was added t o ou r

bas i c unde rs tand ing o f t he snow l eopa rd . We d id f i l l i n a f ew

fac t s t h rough an occas iona l s i gh t i ng by a hun te r , bu t t he an ima l

was sca rce , even i n i t s na tu ra l hab i t a t , and was no t encoun te red

o f t en . Usua l l y wha t was co l l ec ted was t he l oca t i on o f t he

s igh t i ng , such as wh i ch As ian moun ta in r ange , t he a l t i t ude , and

whe the r o r no t t he snow leopard had bea t t he hun te r t o the game.

I f t he snow l eopa rd was k i 1 l ed , t he s i ze o f t he ca t and t he

cond i t i on o f t he pe l t we re no ted . Usua l l y no th i ng was added

abou t behav io r because i t i s d i f f i cu l t t o l ea rn abou t behav io r

i n an an ima l t ha t i s dead .

Due na in l y t o t he e f f o r t s o f two men , Ha r i Dang , a hun te r who

wro te down h i s obse rva t i ons o f t he snow l eopa rd and i t s p re / r

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and Geo rge Scha l l e r , t he f i r s t i nd i v i dua l t o co l l ec t any

sys temat i c da ta on the snow leopard i n t he w i l d , w€ can now f i l l

i n a few more gaps .

A l though i t s range i s 1a rge , ex tend ing f rom the sou the rn H ima layas

wes tward th rough Pak is tan and no r th to the Russ ian moun ta in ranges ,

i t s dens i t y o r popu la t i on i s l ow i n a l l o f t hese a reas . Th i s

p robab ly has no t va r i ed ove r t he yea rs . The number o f ca rn i vo res

has to be l ow compared to the nunber o f p rey an ima ls . Add to th i s

fac t t ha t t he snow leopard l i ves i n an ex t reme ly ha rsh env i ronmen t

and the re w i l l be few ungu la tes ab le to nake a l i v i ng and even

fewer snow leopards .

In the w i l d snow leopards p rey on a num-ber o f spec ies , i nc lud ing

b lue sheep , dee r , i bex , na rkho r , ma rmo ts and pheasan ts . W i t h t he

loca l v i l l age rs go ing h ighe r and h ighe r t r y ing to f i nd g raz ing

land f o r t he i r sheep and goa t s , domes t i c s t ock i s now a p r i nc i pa l

f ood sou rce . Th i s i s a ma jo r conce rn because t he snow l eopa rd i s

a ve ry s low ea te r and i s eas i l y sho t when l i nge r ing ove r a

l i ves tock k i l 1 .

W i th r ega rd t o i t s soc ia l behav io r , t he re a re repea ted

re fe rences i n t he l i t e ra tu re t o " r es i den t pa i r s " . Th i s i s usua l l y

i n rega rd to the snow leopards ' hun t i ng behav io r and conce rns

two an ima ls work ing coopera t i ve l y t o b r i ng down p rey . One an ima l

w i l l chase a goa t o r sheep in to an a rea where the o the r an ina l

i s wa i t i ng i n ambush . Th i s t echn ique i s espec ia l l y va luab le i n

. ba r ren rocky hab i ta t where the p rey cou ld keep mov ing away i n to

escape zones . He re i s whe re t he f an tas t i c l eap ing ab i l i t y o f

t he snow l eopa rd i s pu t t o i t s bes t use . The re i s one re fe rence

to a snow l eopa rd seen j unp ing 15 me te rs ( 49 .2 f ee t ) uph i l l .

Even i f t h i s i s exagge ra ted , i t somewha t d i scou rages zoo o f f i c i a l sf r om bu i l d i ng an open -a i r g ro t t o f o r t he i r snow l eopa rds .

W i th r egd rd t o t he soc ia l s ys tem o f t he snow l eopa rd , Geo rge

Scha l l e r w t ' i t es : "V i r t ua l l y no th ing i s known abou t i n te rac t i ons

be tween adu l t s i n t he w i l d . "

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Keep ing t h i s and wha t e l se we ' ve l ea rned f r om the na tu ra l

hab i t a t i n r n i nd , we '11 now rev iew some o f t he da ta co l l ec ted i n

cap t i v i t y .

The na jo r i t y o f cub b i r t hs i n cap t i v i t y occu r i n May . Based on

su rveys I ' ve done , t o ta l l i ng 46 l i t t e r s cons i s t i ng o f 96

ind i v i dua l s , 62 eo o f t he b i r t hs we re i n May . The nex t h i ghes t

mon th was June w i t h a t o ta l o f 2 I ' 0 , t hus hav ing 83 eo Q f a l l

b i r t hs occu r i ng i n two mon ths o f t he yea r .

Runn ing a mu l t i p l e r eg ress ion p rog ram on a compu te r , us i ng a

sma l l e r samp le s i ze by t h row ing ou t t he two mos t ex t reme cases ,

we f ound t ha t snow l eopa rds i n zoos l oca ted i n mo re no r t he rn

la t i t udes t end t o have l i t t e r s s l i gh t l y ea r l i e r i n t he sp r i ng .

Th i s sugges t s pho tope r i od as a poss ib l e cue f o r t he onse t o f

oes t rus , bu t i t d i d no t show a s t r ong re l a t i onsh ip . A l t i t ude o f

t he Zoo and t empera tu re , us i ng t he f i r s t day o f f r os t , we re a l so

tes ted aga ins t t he b i r t h da te and w i t h t hese , no re l a t i onsh ip

was shown . I n o the r wo rds , us i ng t he p rev ious t h ree f ac to r s as

the t es t , zoo l oca t i on had l i t t l e e f f ec t on t he t im ing o f

pa r t u r i t i on . We know tha t oes t rous i n t he snow l eopa rd i s se t

i n to a ve ry l im i t ed t ime f r ame , bu t wha t we don ' t know i s wha t

ou t s i de mechan i sm, i f l t y , t r i gge rs i t .

A l t hough ha rd l y any th ing i s known abou t i n te rac t i ons be tween

adu l t s i n t he w i l d , we can l ook a t t he reason f o r monogomy and

see i f t he snow l eopa rd f i t s i n t o any o f t hese .

Bas i ca l l y , i n o rde r f o r a soc ia l s ys tem to have evo l ved , i t has

to have p rov ided a h i ghe r deg ree o f f i t ness f o r t he i nd i v i dua l s

i nvo l ved . Fo r monogomy to have evo l ved ( f o r i t i s no t t he mos t

common soc ia l sys tem among mammals ; po l ygyny and p romiscu i t y

a re ) i nd i v i dua l s who f o rmed a pa i r bond have had t o p roduce more

o f f sp r i ng t han t hose who s tayed w i t h t he o the r soc ia l s ys tems .

The gene t i c b l uep r i n t f o r t h i s behav io r wou ld sp read as more and

more success fu l r ep roduc t i on acc rued t o pa i r - bonded i nd i v i dua l s .

The spec ies wou ld come to cons i s t o f i nd i v i dua l s who behaved

monogomous ly .

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Secause of the harsh envi ronment of the snow leopard, i t could be

tha t t he coopera t i on o f two pa ren ts may we l l enhance the u l t ima te

su rv i va l and success o f t he o f f sp r i ng . The coopera t i on o f two

comn i t t ed adu l t s may be needed to ge t t he young to where they a re

ab le t o hun t f o r t hemse l ves ;

A lso , because o f t he l ow dens i t y o f t he snow leopard . i n t he w i l d ,

and the ex t reme ly l im i ted oes t rous cyc le o f t he fema le , i t nay

we l l be to the advan tage o f each i nd i v idua l t o have the o the r sex

in c l ose p rox in i t y du r i ng t h i s pe r i od .

In capt iv i t y ma les have been observed tak ing an ac t ive par t inthe ra is ing o f the i r young. A t Wood land Park Zoo the fa ther wasseen so l i c i t ing pLay and groorn ing the cubs . A lso , when p lay ingwi th the cubs , he per fo rned the same behav io r pa t te rns the femaleused. In o ther carn ivores when the male is invo lved in ra is ingthe young, h is energy expend i tu re i s fa r above tha t used in themore commonly seen male mamnal ian s t ra tegy o f on ly p roduc ing thesemen necessary to fe r t i l i ze the egg .

Because o f th is h igh energy expend i tu re , he w i l l t ry to ensuretha t he has the bes t poss ib le fena le fo r a mate . Th is i s o fcourse the usua l s t ra tegy fo r the mammal ian fena le because herinves tment in p roduc ing and car ing fo r the young is a lways h igh .What happens w i th pa i r -bonded an imals i s tha t they then need totake a longer t i rne to ge t to know each o ther . Th is p rocess isca l led cour tsh ip , and cour tsh ip i s mos t p ro longed in spec iestha t have ex tens ive coopera t ion be tween the male and fena le .

In f i f t y hours o f observa t ions spread over a twe lve nonth per iod

tha t I made on one adu l t pa i r , the f requency o f soc ia l g roon ing

was h igher than the f requency o f so l i ta ry g roon ing by e i theran ina l . There were 104 ins tances o f soc ia l g roorn ing , 3s conparedto 68 and 84 observed ins tances o f so l i ta ry g rooming sess ionsfor the male and fena le respec t ive ly . Dur ing tha t same s tudyper iod on ly one ins tance o f aggress ion was seen . Tha t occuredwhen a nove l ob jec t was in t roduced. Whi le the female was

inves t iga t ing i t , the male approached her f rom beh ind and

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s ta r t ed t o a l so i nves t i ga te . She sna r l ed and l unged a t h im and

he re t r ea ted f o r a sho r t wh i l e .

I n Russ ia i n L962 a ma le was p l aced i n to a cage w i t h t h ree f ema les

He chose one fo r a ma te and pa id no a t ten t i on to the o the r two

fema les . He kep t a bond w i t h t h i s one f ema le exc lus i ve l y f o r

f i ve yea rs a l t hough t he o the r f ema les s tayed i n t he same cage

and wen t t h rough oes t rous cyc les .

A t Wood land Park Zoo we in t roduced an adu l t ma le who was a l ready

success fu l l y pa i r ed t o one f ema le t o two d i f f e r6n t f ema les .

Each o f t he new fema les was i n t r oduced sepa ra te l y t o t he ma le ;

each was i n oes t rous a t t he t ime o f i n t r oduc t i on and f u11y

recep t i ve . The rna le r ebu f f ed bo th o f t hen and , i n f ac t , on one

occas ion banged on t he doo r wh i ch 1ed t o an a rea hous ing h i s

o r i g i na l pa r t ne r . We dec ide t o ' 1eave we l l enough a lone and l e t

h i n back w i t h h i s p re fe r red ma te . They ' ve p roduced e i gh t cubs .

As f a r as cap t i ve managemen t t echn iques a re conce rned , t h i s i s

wha t we tve been do ing as a resu l t o f ou r r esea rch s tud ies .

Because t he re i s a poss ib i l i t y o f l ong - t e rm pa ' r bond ing i n t he .

snow l eopa rd , w€ have dec ided no t t o use t he managemen t p rac t i ce

common w i t h o the r f e l i ds o f a l t e rna t i ng a ma le w i t h d i f f e ren t

f ema les . Once a pa i r bond appea rs t o be es tab l i shed , I wou ld

recommend tha t i t no t be b roken by i n t r oduc ing new fema les .

When i n t r oduc ing a new pa i r t o each o the r , i t i s adv i sab le t o

take you r t i ne . As men t i oned ea r l i e r , cou r t sh ip i s p ro l onged

in a pa i r t ha t i n t ends t o s tay t oge the r . Be fo re ac tua l i n t r oduc t i on ,

we g i ve t hen oppo r tun i t y f o r v i sua l , o l f ac to r y and aud i t o r y

commun ica t i on t h rough a mesh doo r . Th i s usua l l y ex tends ove r a

pe r i od o f seve ra l weeks .

A f t e r t he pa i r i s i n t he same enc losu re , t hey a re s t i l l wa t ched

ca re fu l l y f o r an ex tended pe r i od du r i ng t he day and sepa ra ted

a t n i gh t . A l t hough agg ress ion i s l ow be tween bonded pa i r s ,

conve rse l y i t can be ve ry h igh be tween a ma le and fema le who found

they we re no t compa t i b l e .

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A l so , because cou r t sh ip i s l ong , t he pa i r shou ld be pu t t oge the r

we l l i n advance o f oes t rous . The re i s a common say ing "Fam i l i a r i t yb reeds con temp t " . I n t he case o f snow l eopa rds i t shou ld j us t say

"Fam i l i a r i t y b reeds " .

In the enc losu re i t i s recommended tha t t hey be g i ven a reas where

they can l i e down nex t t o each o the r . We fve f ound t ha t ou rsp re fe r l y i ng pass i ve l y i n h i gh a reas t ha t have a l ong v i ew ,

espec raLLy i f t hey can see poss ib l e p rey spec ies i n t he d i s t ance .

Bu t f o r p l ay i ng and ro l l i ng t oge the r , t hey p re fe r open , l ow a reas .

we have seen no s te reo t yp i c behav io r i n ou r snow l eopa rds . Th i s

cou ld poss ib l y be due t o a f ee l i ng o f secu r i t y t ha t t hey have i n

the i r env i r onmen t , and t he op t i ons t hey ' r e g i ven . I f you on l y

obse rve snow leopards du r ing the day , you may f i nd then s tay ing

in ve ry l im i t ed a reas . Bu t t he Z4 -hou r s tud ies we have done

ind i ca te t ha t eve ry a rea o f t he enc losu re i s used a t some t i . ne

du r i ng t ha t pe r i od .

S ta r t i ng i n December we sepa ra te t he na le f r on t he f ema le f o r

one n i gh t a week . The reason f o r t h i s i s t o ge t t hem used t o

be ing sepa ra ted so t ha t s t r ess i s r educed i f and when t hey have

to be sepa ra ted f o r a l onge r pe r i od . Bu t even when t hey a re i n

d i f f e ren t enc losu res , t hey can see , hea r and sme l1 each o the r

t h rough a mesh doo r . Th i s one -n igh t -week sepa ra t i on con t i nues

un t i l sho r t l y be fo re t he f ema le g i ves b i r t h . A t t ha t t ime t he

fema le i s g i ven a sec luded sec t i on wh i ch i nc l udes a cho i ce o f

two a l t e rna te den s i t es . She i s s t i l l , howeve r , ab le t o

commun ica te w i th the ma le th rough the same mesh doo r . The

remova l a t pa r t u r i t i on o f t he f ema le i s t o r educe s t r ess on he r .

I n t he i , i . l d s i t ua t i on she wou ld p robab l y expand he r soc ia l

d i s t ance a t t he t i ne o f pa r t u r i t i on . She can ' t do t h i s i n

cap t i v i t y .

To f u r t he r enphas i ze t h i s po in t , i n co r re - spondence I ' ve had w i t h

mos t o f t he zoos who had snow leopard cubs th i s yea r t he one i t em

tha t s t ands ou t i s t ha t t he zoos wh i ch d i d no t p rov ide sepa ra te ,

sec luded denn ing a reas f o r t he i r f ema les had h i gh mor ta l i t y r a tes

i n t he cubs .

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The fena le s ta r ts spend ing more t ine ou ts ide o f the matern i ty

den when the cubs are two- to th ree weeks o ld . A t th is t ine

she is g iven the oppor tun i ty to go ou ts ide w i th the male fo r

about an hour each day. The cubs are introduced to the nale

between th ree and f i ve months o f age. We 've been nak ing th is

in t roduc t ion a t a p rogress ive ly ear l i e r t ime each year .

I n sunmary , t he re i s ev idence tha t t he snow leopard has the ,

capac i t y f o r s t r ong soc ia l bond ing be tween i nd i v i dua l s .

Th i s i s a need t ha t shou ld be recogn i zed by zoo pe rsonne l i n

the i r cap t i ve managemen t p rog ram.