What would happen if the snow leopard became extinct & was no longer in the food chain?

Dr. Rodney Jackson from the Snow Leopard Conservancy reported that in a year one snow leopard from a National Park in India ate:

5 wild sheep, 1 domestic sheep, 5 domestic goats, 9 woolly hares, 25 marmots and 15 birds.

Marmots seem to be the snow leopard’s  favourite food.
Uinta couple
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: NaturesFan1226 via Compfight

So what would happen if the Snow Leopard became extinct?

Sheep, hare, marmot and goats are all herbivores. They eat plants. Marmots for example eat grass, berries, lichen and moss, roots and flowers.

So can you imagine what would happen if

the Snow Leopard was taken out of the food chain?

We guess that the herbivore population would not get eaten by the Snow Leopard.

Then the population of marmots, hares, sheep and goats would grow and grow.

His New Friends
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk via Compfight

They would eat a lot of plants and vegetation.

There would be ‘over grazing’

There would be very little grass and plants left.

Then the herbivores; the marmots, hares, sheep and goats

wouldn’t have enough food to eat.

If there were a lot less flowers, plants and grass,

the butterflies and other insects that pollinate the meadows would disappear also.

Tibet. Неземная красота!!!
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Andrey Salikov via Compfight

You can read more about the Snow Leopard here @ Snow Leopard Conservancy.org

If the Snow Leopard became extinct this would upset the ‘balance of nature’.

 

Check out another story HERE ; a good news story from ‘Sustainable Human’.

It tells what happened when wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in the USA.

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22 thoughts on “What would happen if the snow leopard became extinct & was no longer in the food chain?

  1. Abigail

    I hope snow leopards can live for a very long time. I love snow leopards and seeing people killing them breaks my heart. I hope those people who have killed snow leopards will learn their lesson because I am going to teach them a lesson. Snow leopards are wonderful animals and are on earth for a reason. I’m not telling you to believe in god or anything but God put them on earth for a strong reason and you should obey that reason. And you never know what could happen between a snow leopard and you. It may end up saving your life one day. But I’m not saying to get close to snow leopards. Just think about it. And if you are out there killing snow leopards and making them endangered, then I hope you suffer the consequences. If you are doing all of that stuff to them then here’s something I want to say, HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO SUCH A CUTE, FLUFFY, BEAUTIFUL, AND INNOCENT KITTY LIKE THAT. Sorry, but I love cats. But I am serious though. Stop killing these beautiful creatures. And for those of you who are out there trying to save snow leopards, then you are a wonderful person and God bless you and your family. And if snow leopards die out, then I won’t be able to stop crying because they are my favorite big cat.

    Reply
  2. llama

    I am using this website for a school project. I find it very useful. I hope that I can use this same website for other animal research. Thank you so much for this knew knowledge that you have given me.

    Reply
      1. merrybeau Post author

        Fair play to you, correctly citing your sources. Not every student knows how to do this but as you know it is important to do. Thanks for the good advice. We will do that in future.

        Reply
  3. santeri

    Hello from 2017, still relevant and used this also in a school project 😀 really well done!

    Reply

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