The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), also called the ounce, is a species of large felid in the subfamily Pantherinae. It is smaller than most of its close relatives, standing around 22 inches tall at the shoulder, and has a long tail that helps it balance on cliffs and uneven terrain. Its closest living relative is the tiger. Snow leopards are native to alpine environments of central and southern Asia, and are considered vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their main threat is poaching, as they are killed for their skins and body parts or sold as exotic pets. Many central Asian countries have banned the hunting of these animals, beginning with Kyrgyzstan in the 1950s, in order to protect their surviving populations.
There are four known subspecies of snow leopard, including one extinct subspecies:
- Panthera uncia uncia, native to the Pamir Mountains
- Panthera uncia ibris, native to Mongolia
- Panthera uncia uncioides, native to the Himalayas and Qinghai, China
- Panthera uncia pyrenaica, formerly native to the French Pyrenees; extinct approximately 740,000 BCE
