snow leopard

A snow leopard (Panthera uncia), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
The WCS-run Bronx Zoo is one of my most favorite places to visit, their Snow Leopards (Panthera uncia) making a visit worthwhile in and of itself. While you may hear "George" the lion roaring or any of the many tigers resident at the zoo calling to each other, they are veritable chatterboxes compared to Snow Leopards, which don't roar despite possessing the proper vocal equipment like other big cats. Such silence was part of the reason for placing the Snow Leopard within it's own genus, Uncia, but it now seems that the Himalayan cats really do belong within Panthera although their exact…