Snow Leopard

The arrival of Snow Leopard in the vicinity of the villages Tooshi, and Terich valley, at the base of Roshgol valley, is an age long old phenomena where it announces its presence in December to February, on and off, as the higher parts of the hills are covered in deep snow and Snow Leopards know the route how to navigate the slopes in winters to avoid avalanche sites. It reports its arrival in the very cold season by its deep throated calls at night from certain ridges on its route, during it's up or down journey, staying at its favorite spots for some days [usually they travel in twos] and frightening children by its calls at nights. Normally they don't attack domestic animals but driven by hunger for longer period, they attack goats outside the villages. Mostly they get their food from the ibex flocks after stalking carefully. Regarding humans their behavior is very gentle.. they never attack humans even if they come across on the mountain tracks and there does not exist any such record of attack in the history of the region. The endangered snow leopard, ['purdom' in Khowar language], visits the Tooshi game reserve due to heavy snow and severe cold weather. The beautiful wild cat is normally seen in the game reserve mostly in winter as it comes there for at least four days to one week. During this time he feasts on a wild goat or two. Many local people and foreign tourists visit Tooshi to have a glimpse of the snow leopard.