Leopard cub makes visit to human dwelling

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A leopard cub dropped in on a herder family in the western mountains on Tuesday. The usually secretive animal climbed to the ger (Mongolian national dwelling), where the herder D.Ganbat lives with his family. The hungry cub was eating a pouch of meat the family had put to keep cold (a traditional method to keep the food safe in the winter time). The family, not sure what to do with the sudden guest, sought a help from the locality's center. Upon arriving, a group led by the local governor saw the young leopard lying in a curled position after it had unpacked the porch and ate all the meat. After several attempts, the group created sort of lasso. The guest was caught and released near mountains. The cub caused no damage except eating the meat, Ganbat said. The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia, such as the Karakoram, Tian Shan, Altaii and Tost Mountains of Mongolia, its main prey consists of Siberian ibex and argali, a type of wild sheep, although this has become rarer in some parts of the snow leopard's range. Considerable predation of domestic livestock occurs, which brings it into direct conflict with humans. However, even in Mongolia, where wild prey have been reduced and interactions with humans are common, domestic stock (mainly domestic sheep) comprise less than 20% of the diet of species, with wild prey being taken whenever possible. The snow leopard has not been reported to attack humans, and appears to be the least aggressive to humans of all big cats. As a result, they are easily driven away from livestock; they readily abandon their kills when threatened, and may not even defend themselves when attacked.