Snow Leopard Trivia
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47 free Snow Leopard trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
This snow leopard trivia quiz covers the biology of Asia's high-mountain cat: why it is a Panthera that cannot roar, its blanket of a tail, the fur on its paw pads, how it hunts blue sheep and ibex down near-vertical slopes, its 90-100 day gestation, its 12-country range from the Hindu Kush to Siberia and why it can live at 6,000 metres. It also covers the snow leopard's history and culture: the old name 'ounce', Schreber's 1777 description and Pocock's genus Uncia, the Aq Bars of the Tatars and Kazakhs, the emblems of Almaty and Bishkek, the Moscow and Bronx zoos, Peter Matthiessen's National Book Award-winning The Snow Leopard, Apple's Mac OS X 10.6, and the Snow Leopard Trust. Conservation questions cover the Vulnerable listing, poaching figures, the 2013 Bishkek forum and India's 2024 census of 718 animals. Every question was verified against a primary reference (mainly the Wikipedia articles on the snow leopard and related topics) and carries a citation. Play it alongside our leopard, big cats and Himalaya quizzes.
30 of 47 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which nickname do conservationists often give the snow leopard?
The ghost of the mountains
The ghost of the mountains: its smoky, dappled coat is such good camouflage that scientists find it extremely hard to locate and study in the wild.
Q 02Which big cat is the snow leopard's closest living relative?
The tiger
The tiger: genetic studies make the two sister species that split roughly three million years ago, so despite its name the snow leopard's nearest kin is not the leopard.
Q 03The old snow leopard name 'ounce' ultimately derives from the Greek word for which animal?
Lynx
Lynx: Old French lonce was misheard as l'once, and the clipped once, first used for the lynx itself, became the English word ounce.
Q 04After killing a large animal, what does a snow leopard usually do?
Stays nearby, eating for days
Stays nearby, eating for days, and it may not hunt again for over a week.
Q 05What stops the snow leopard from roaring like other big cats?
Its vocal folds are too short
Its vocal folds are too short to give a roar the resistance it needs, yet like a house cat it can still purr.
Q 06What does a snow leopard use its thick, fur-covered tail for when sleeping?
Wrapping it round its face like a blanket
The tail is 80-105 cm long, thick with stored fat, and also acts as a balance pole on cliffs.
Q 07What is unusual about the undersides of a snow leopard's paws?
They are furred
They are furred, which helps the cat keep a firm grip on snow and unstable surfaces.
Q 08What happens to a snow leopard's coat as winter sets in?
It grows much thicker
It grows much thicker: it has the densest coat of any big cat, and that pelt is a major target for poachers.
Q 09A snow leopard can kill prey up to about what size?
Several times its own weight
Several times its own weight, so herders' livestock such as ponies are within its reach, a major cause of conflict with people.
Q 10Why are the snow leopard's nasal openings unusually large?
To warm cold, dry air with each breath
To warm cold, dry air with each breath, and their size also lets it take in more air each time it inhales.
Q 11Where does a snow leopard mostly live and hunt?
Rocky cliffs and slopes
Rocky cliffs and slopes: the broken ground offers shelter and clear views for finding prey from afar.
Q 12Which country holds at least half of all snow leopard habitat?
China
China: the cat's range there sprawls across the far west, on and around the vast Tibetan Plateau, so one country accounts for half or more of all its habitat.
Q 13What are a snow leopard's paws often compared to?
Snowshoes
Snowshoes: the broad paws keep the cat on top of soft snow, and they also muffle its steps as it creeps up on prey.
Q 21How does a female snow leopard line her birthing den?
With fur shed from her underside
Cubs are born blind, already furry, weighing 320-567 g, and open their eyes at about a week.
Q 22How often does a female snow leopard usually have cubs?
Every other year
Every other year: cubs take the best part of two years to become independent, so a new litter can't come any sooner.
Q 23Which actor plays the photographer who tracks a snow leopard in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?
Sean Penn
Sean Penn: when the cat finally walks into view, his character decides not to take the picture, saying he would rather stay in the moment.
Q 14Which wild sheep is the snow leopard's main prey across much of its range?
Himalayan blue sheep
Himalayan blue sheep are its mainstay, so where livestock overgraze their pastures and the sheep decline, the cat turns to herders' animals.
Q 15Where do many snow leopards move for the winter?
Lower down the mountains
Lower down the mountains: their prey descends to find grazing clear of deep snow, and the cats follow.
Q 16How does a snow leopard usually begin its attack on mountain prey?
Ambushing it from above
Ambushing it from above: it stalks from higher ground, then uses the momentum of its leap to chase prey down steep ground.
Q 17What have conservation groups built so herders stop killing snow leopards over lost livestock?
Predator-proof corrals
Predator-proof corrals: a snow leopard that gets into a flimsy pen can kill multiple animals at once, and herders facing such losses sometimes retaliate.
Q 18How does a snow leopard usually respond to a herder at its kill?
It gives it up without a fight
It gives it up without a fight, yet a herder who has lost animals to one may still kill the cat in revenge.
Q 19Who raises snow leopard cubs?
The mother alone
The mother alone: the male leaves after mating, and she hunts for the cubs until, at about three months, they start following her to learn.
Q 20Snow leopard cubs arrive in late spring or early summer; in which season do their parents mate?
Late winter
Late winter: from January to March the solitary cats scent-mark their travel routes more often, which helps mates find each other.
Q 24What mainly decides how big a snow leopard's home range must be?
How much prey there is
How much prey there is: sparse prey makes ranges so vast that about 40% of protected areas in its range are smaller than one male's home range.
Q 25Which IUCN category replaced Endangered for the snow leopard in 2017?
Vulnerable
Vulnerable: the downgrade was no recovery, since the cat's numbers were still estimated to be falling.
Q 26How do camera-trap surveys tell individual snow leopards apart?
Spot patterns
Spot patterns: scientists can then estimate numbers from how often each individual turns up on camera.
Q 27Why may climate change shrink snow leopard habitat?
Forests are creeping uphill
Forests are creeping uphill: as the treeline rises the alpine zone shrinks, and the cat may run into more competition from leopards and wild dogs.
Q 28In which animated film does a snow leopard co-anchor the TV news?
Zootopia
Zootopia: snow leopard Fabienne Growley reads the news in every version, but her co-anchor changes by country, from a moose in North America to a koala in Australia.
Q 29Herders in the Snow Leopard Enterprises scheme earn extra income by selling what?
Handmade wool goods
Handmade wool goods: in return the community agrees to protect the cats, and if any poaching takes place there that year, every family loses its bonus.
Q 30Demand for which luxury fibre is squeezing snow leopards?
Cashmere
Cashmere: herders across Central Asia keep ever bigger goat herds to supply it, and the goats crowd out the wild prey the cat depends on.