Coyotes #1

The coyote, or "little wolf" as the Native Americans callit, is a member of the dog family. It is the topic of many Native American folklore tales. Its name comes from the Aztec word"coyotl." Its scientific name is "canis latrans" which means"barking dog." The coyote, usually associated with the open lands of the west, is now found throughout the United States. Not native to Ohio, its presence here shows the animal's ability to adapt to new environments. Coyotes' good sense of smell, hearing and vision, along with being sly, enable them to even live in some urban areas. For example, a pair was found in New York City in the Spring of 1995. Presently coyotes can be found in all of the 88 counties of Ohio. The coyote has the appearance of a medium-sized dog or a small German Shepherd. Coyotes are about one and a half to two feet tall and between forty-one and fifty-three inches long. Weight ranges from twenty to fifty pounds. They have a bushy tail that is tipped with black. Most are grey, but some showrust or brown coloration. Coyote tracks are more elongated than dog tracks. This nocturnal animal is most active at night, but if not threatened by man they will hunt during the day. The coyote is omnivorous. They will eat fruits, grasses, and vegetables along with small mammals. The coyote has a bad reputation for killing sheep and other livestock, but studies show that livestock accounts for only 14 percent of the coyotes' diet. Coyotes mate for life. Between January and March is the breeding period. Most do not breed until they are two years old. The female selects and maintains the den. They usually dig their own dens but sometimes they use an old badger hole or fix up a natural hole. Dens are usually hidden from view. Females carry their young for over two months. One to twelve pups are born in either April or May. Pups are born blind and helpless. Both parents hunt and feed the young. At three weeks old, the pups leave the den under close watch of their parents. Once the pups are eight to twelve weeks old they are taught to hunt. Families stay together through the summer but the young break apart to find their own territories by fall. They usually relocate within ten miles. Between 50 and 70 percent of theyoung coyotes die before adulthood. Of the young that die, 80 percent is the result of human trapping, shooting, poisons, or other control methods. The coyote is capable of producing fertile offspring with many other animals from the dog family. It occasionally breeds with the domestic dog, wild dogs, and wolves. This mixed offspring has created great confusion about whether a real coyote has been seen. The only way to tell the difference is by examination of the skull. The coyotes' skull is narrower and more elongated than the domestic dog. In Ohio 98 percent of theanimals sighted, captured, or killed are real coyotes. More often you will hear a coyote rather than see one. It's howl can be very deceiving. Due to the way the sound carries, it seems as though it is in one place, where the coyote is really some place else. Coyotes have two howling seasons. The first is in January and February. During this time they are trying to find a mate by howling. The second season is in September and October. During this period the female is calling to her offspring. The young then call back in unison. After the move westward by settlers, coyotes thrived on ranchers' cattle and sheep. In response, the ranchers aggressively tried to eliminate the coyote, and almost succeeded. However, due to its intelligence and ability to adapt to changes in its environment, it has not only survived, but flourished.

Snow Leopards #2

Geographic Range
Snow leopards inhabit the mountain ranges of Central Asia stretching from northwestern China to Tibet and the Himalayas.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (native ); oriental (native).
Habitat
Snow leopards live in mountain steppes and coniferous forest scrub at altitudes ranging from 2000 to 6000 meters. In the summer they frequent alpine meadows and rocky areas, and in the winter they may follow prey into forests below 1800 meters.
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; mountains .
Physical Description
Mass25 to 75 kg(55 to 165 lbs)
Base fur color ranges from light gray to smoke gray, shading to white on the belly. The head, neck, and lower limbs are covered with solid spots, while the rest of the body is covered with "rosettes," large rings that often enclose smaller spots. The fur is very thick, one inch long on the back, two inches long on the tail, and three inches long on the belly. Characteristically, the tails are extremely long in comparison to other cats, measuring almost as long as the body. They use the tail both for balance and covering their body, nose, and mouth during times of sub-zero temperatures. Also characteristic of snow leopards are the very large and furry paws, functioning both as snow shoes and padding against sharp rocks.
Head and body length is 1000 to 1300 mm, tail length is 800 to 1000 mm.
Some key physical features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry .
Reproduction
Number of offspring1 to 4; avg. 2.04
Gestation period98 to 103 days
Birth Mass475 g (average)(16.72 oz)
Time to weaning48 to 180 days
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)730 days (average) Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)730 days (average)Mating occurs between December and March, and most births occur after 100 days of gestation. The young are born in a rocky shelter lined with the mother's fur for warmth. The litter can include from one to five young, with the average two or three. The infants are blind for about nine days. After three months they start to follow the mother for food and are dependent on her for at least the next year. Sexual maturity is reached at the age of two years.
Key reproductive features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual.
Behavior
Socially, snow leopards are thought to be much like the tiger, essentially solitary but not totally asocial. They pair only during the mating season, when couples may inhabit a range together. Unlike many other cats, snow leopards do not roar. However, they let out a slight moan when trying to attract a mate, and individuals greet each other with quiet "chuffing" sounds. Snow leopards are primarily nocturnal but are most active in the early morning and late afternoon. Snow leopards are well known for their muscularity and agility with the ability to leap up to fifty feet horizontally and twenty feet vertically.
Key behaviors: nocturnal ; motile ; solitary .
Food Habits
Their prey includes wild sheep, wild boar, hares, mice, deer, marmots, and other small mammals. They also feed on domestic livestock. Prey is either attacked or ambushed. Snow leopards attack usually from a distance up to fifteen meters and feed initially on the chest, lower abdomen, or thigh.
Primary Diet: carnivore (eats terrestrial vertebrates).
Animal Foods: mammals.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Snow leopards occasionally kill domestic animals.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Snow leopards are important members of healthy, Himalayan ecosystems. Their presence indicates healthy wild ecosystems that are valuable for ecotourism and many other ecosystem services.
Ways that people benefit from these animals: body parts are source of valuable material; ecotourism.

The main threat to snow leopards is hunting for their fur. Snow leopard pelts are considered a trophy, and poaching for the luxurious pelts continues to be a threat to the existence of this species. Black market pelts are found in central Asian bazaars and a full length coat, consisting of six to ten full body skins, can cost around $60,000. In 1981, the International Snow Leopard Trust was created in Seattle as a non-profit corporation working on conservation of the snow leopard and its mountain habitat.
There are approximately 500 leopards in 150 zoos world-wide. Many zoos are involved in a snow leopard species survival project, a coordinated breeding program among zoos. The goal of this project is to maintain a genetically sound population in hope that these animals may someday be released into the wild. Other methods of conservation include habitat protection, captive breeding, stiff penalties for those harming them, and public education.

Snow Leopards #1

Snow leopards are considered medium-sized cats, standing about 24 inches at the shoulder and weighing 60-120 lbs. Snow leopards have an exquisite smoky-gray pelage tinged with yellow and patterned with dark gray, open rosettes and black spots. Superbly adapted for life in steep, high and rocky terrain, they have a well-developed chest, short forelimbs with sizeable paws, long hind limbs, and a thick tail nearly a meter long for balancing. Adaptations for cold include an enlarged nasal cavity, long body hair with a dense, woolly underfur, and a thick tail that can be wrapped around the body.
Endangered – Total numbers crudely estimated at 4,500-7,500. Sparsely distributed across 12 countries in Central Asia: China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia. Preferred habitat: steep, broken mountains in the alpine and subalpine zone where vegetation is sparse. Home range varies from about 10 square miles in prey-rich habitat to over 800 square miles in parts of Mongolia where prey densities are much lower. The total potential range covers some 1.5 million square miles, but it is unknown how much of that is actually occupied by snow leopards.
The snow leopard’s geographical range is most closely related to two of its large prey species – the blue sheep (bharal) of the Himalaya and Tibet, and the ibex of the Karakorum, Tien Shan, Mongolian and Russian mountain ranges. Opportunistic predator capable of killing prey three times its weight. Small prey such as marmots, pika, hares and game birds probably reduce dependency upon livestock as a source of food. The annual prey consumption of a snow leopard in India’s Hemis National Park is reported to be 5 blue sheep, 9 Tibetan woolly hares, 25 marmots, 5 domestic goats, 1 domestic sheep and 15 birds.
Most active at dawn and dusk – In the wild usually mate between January and March, a time when both sexes mark intensively, leaving sign such as scrapes, feces, urine and scent-spray in prominent locations along their travel routes. Such sign is valuable in determining presence/absence of snow leopards and establishing their relative abundance.
The primary threats to the species are illegal hunting and the sale of pelts, bones and body parts for the fur-trade and traditional Chinese medicine; the depletion of the natural prey base; retribution by herders for depredation of livestock; lack of awareness of the importance of protecting snow leopards among villagers; and habitat degradation along with habitat fragmentation.
The snow leopard’s role in the food web – Snow leopards are one of the top predators in the high mountain food web of Central Asia. The other top predators are the Tibetan wolf, and (more rarely) the endangered dhole (wild dog).
Snow leopards help to keep the ecosystem in balance by preying on Himalayan marmot populations. Marmots are important to the alpine pastureland because their burrowing aerates the soil which, like plowing, helps the grasses grow. The grasses are important to the wild sheep and goats (which are also snow leopard prey) and also to the livestock that mountain people depend upon for their existence. However, marmots have periodic population explosions, and too many marmots, which eat vegetation, degrade the alpine meadows.
By preying on the wild sheep and goats, snow leopards also help to keep the meadows healthy, because like too many marmots, overgrazing by too many ungulates kills the grass and shrubs. If predators are removed, the grassland can disappear, causing the wild ungulates and marmots to disappear, and even the butterflies and other insects that not only pollinate the meadows, but also the barley and potatoes that are the people’s staple diet.
Snow leopards are not only a beautiful symbol of the high mountains of Central Asia, they are an “indicator species.” Where you have good, healthy populations of snow leopards, you can be fairly well assured that the rest of the mountain web of life is in good shape