Abstract: Snow leopard inhabits Tien Shan, Pamir, Bukhara and possibly Kopet-dag, as well as the Altai, Tibet, and northern slopes of the Himalayas. It preys on ibex, wild sheep, roe deer, hare, keklik (partridge), snow-cock and porcupine and sometimes attacks livestock. Snow leopard is not considered a dangerous animal since even being wounded, it would escape from men and could only rush to the attack when deadlocked.

Abstract: The number of large cats is reducing. These animals are hold out in the most difficult of access places. During long time snow leopard was a poorly known animal. The situation was changed with developing of mountain tourism and mountaineering. It's necessary to reduce the capturing snow leopards for zoological gardens.

Abstract: Among species included in the Red Data Book of the USSR, predators occupy the first place; of them, unconditional leadership belongs the cat family species. Nine of eleven species of the family are referred to as rare and endangered ones. In the past snow leopard (Uncia uncia) inhabited all mountains on the south of the USSR from Tien Shan and Pamir to Transbaikalia. Now it no longer inhabits many of its previous habitats and has become rare, everywhere. Its total population in the USSR is no more than 1000 animals. At the beginning of XX century there were cases that such an amount of snow leopard (i.e. 1,000) was hunted during one year. Until recently, hunting the species was allowed all year round and even encouraged.

Abstract: Noninvasive fecal assays were used to study steroid metabolism and ovarian activity in several felid species. Using the domestic cat (Felis catus) as model, the excretory products of injected [14C]estradiol (E2) and [14C]progesterone (P4) were determined. Within 2 days, 97.0 +/- 0.6% and 96.7 +/- 0.5% of recovered E2 and P4 radioactivity, respectively, was found in feces. E2 was excreted as unconjugated estradiol and estrone (40%) and as a non-enzyme- hydrolyzable conjugate (60%). P4 was excreted primarily as non-enzyme- hydrolyzable, conjugated metabolites (78%) and as unconjugated pregnenolone epimers. A simple method for extracting fecal steroid metabolites optimized extraction efficiencies of the E2 and P4 excretion products (90.1 +/- 0.8% and 87.2 +/- 1.4%, respectively). Analysis of HPLC fractions of extracted fecal samples from the radiolabel-injected domestic cats revealed that E2 immunoreactivity coincided primarily with the unconjugated metabolized [14C]E2 peak, whereas progestogen immunoreactivity coincided with a single conjugated epimer and multiple unconjugated pregnenolone epimers. After HPLC separation, similar immunoreactive E2 and P4 metabolite profiles were observed in the leopard cat (F. bengalensis), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Longitudinal analyses demonstrated that changes in fecal E2 and P4 metabolite concentrations reflected natural or artificially induced ovarian activity. For example, severalfold increases in E2 excretion were associated with overt estrus or exogenous gonadotropin treatment, and elevated fecal P4 metabolite concentrations occurred during pregnant and nonpregnant (pseudopregnant) luteal phases. Although overall concentrations were similar, the duration of elevated fecal P4 metabolites during pseudopregnancy was approximately half that observed during pregnancy. In summary, steroid metabolism mechanisms appear to be conserved among these physically diverse, taxonomically related species. Results indicate that this hormone-monitoring approach will be extremely useful for elucidating the hormonal regulatory mechanism associated with the reproductive cycle, pregnancy, and parturition of intractable and endangered felid species.

Abstract: The structure of the foramen ovale from 16 species representing 4 carnivore families, the Felidae, Canidae, Ursidae and Hyaenidae, was studied using the scanning electron microscope. The Felidae were represented by 9 domestic cat fetuses (Felis catus), 2 snow leopard neonates (Uncia uncia), an ocelot neonate (Leopardus pardalis), 2 lion neonates (Panthera leo), a panther neonate (Panthera pardus) and 3 tigers (Neofelis tigris), comprising 2 fetuses and a neonate. The Canidae were represented by a golden jackal neonate (Canis aureus), a newborn wolf (Canis lupus), 8 domestic dog fetuses (Canis familiaris), 3 red fox neonates (Vulpes vulpes) and a dhole neonate (Cuon alpinus). The Ursidae were represented by a brown bear neonate (Ursus arctos), a day-old grizzly bear cub (Ursus arctos horribilis), a polar bear neonate (Ursus maritimus), and 2 additional bear fetuses (species unknown). The Hyaenidae were represented by a striped hyaena neonate (Hyaena hyaena). In each species, the foramen ovale, when viewed from the terminal part of the caudal vena cava, had the appearance of a short tunnel. A thin fold of tissue, the developed remains of the embryonic septum primum, extended from the distal end of the caudal vena cava for a variable distance into the lumen of the left atrium and contributed towards the 'tunnel' appearance in all specimens. It constituted a large proportion of the tube, and its distal end was straight-edged. There was fibrous material underlying the endothelium of the flap, the apparent morphology of which suggested that it comprised cardiac muscle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)