Shree the Snow Leopard is the newest resident of Safe Haven Wildlife Sanctuary at 9605 State Route 400 in Imlay, NV.
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Safe Haven Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the liveliest places in Pershing County but it's about to get livelier, with the addition of Shree, a four-year-old female snow leopard. The apex predator arrived at the Imlay, NV, sanctuary last weekend from the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, Illinois.
"As you can imagine, this is a big transition for her so she's been hiding in the daytime and coming out in the evenings, “said Lynda Sugasa, the sanctuary’s director.
Snow Leopards are solitary animals known as “the ghosts of the mountains.” It was no surprise that Shree and her only littermate Sage grew less tolerant of one another as they got older. The Miller Park Zoo separated them to avoid the risk of serious injuries but space was in short supply. They reached out to Safe Haven with its 320 acres along the eastern base of the Humboldt Range.
The sanctuary happily accepted Shree and set up a welcoming environment.
"We are grateful to our volunteers who came out and constructed an insulated den for her. Another volunteer is installing the air conditioning units," said Sugasa.
“Shree has a 10,000 square foot habitat as well as a multi-level shade and climbing platform. We will be adding shade cloth over a good portion of the habitat top and sides to ensure she stays cool during the hotter months.”
Snow Leopard Trust estimates the global population of snow leopards at 3,920 - 6,390 and falling. They are native to Afghanistan, Asia, China, Russia and Pakistan but their status is ‘threatened,’ meaning they are likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. Endangered is one step away from extinct.
Since the early eighties, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has managed Species Survival Programs (SSPs) to ensure the long-term survival of certain species through controlled breeding in zoos.
There are SSPs for chimpanzees, Komodo dragons, elephants, bats, giraffes and hundreds of other species. For the most part, they can’t and won’t be released to the wild. The AZA website says the goal of the SSP is “to maintain a genetically diverse and self-sustaining population of a particular species in captivity.”
It can be mind-bogglingly challenging to breed wild animals in captivity. For example, only about 20 percent of captive cheetahs breed successfully. Snow leopards are difficult because of their solitariness and habitat requirements.
Shree and her brother Sage were born at the Miller Park Zoo in August 2020 as offspring of the Snow Leopard SSP. In addition to Shree, Safe Haven also has two cheetahs from the Cheetah SSP, Babs and Umasa.
“When they retire from the SSPs the preference is to place them with accredited sanctuaries like Safe Haven to finish out their golden years,” says Sugasa. “However, due to medical issues all our SSP residents are quite young.”
Shree and Sage were born with “swimmers legs.” They tried to crawl when they were a few weeks old but their hind legs splayed out as if they were swimming. Left untreated, they would not have been able to walk.
Swimmer’s legs are most often seen in pet puppies but sometimes in tiger and leopard cubs. The causes aren’t known for sure but, for some reason the adductor muscles of the inner thighs fail to develop. The mainstay of treatment is physical therapy. However, Miller Park Zoo did not have the staff or resources for the intensive therapy the cubs required.
Miller Park Zoo reached out to Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. In Omaha, the cubs received physical therapy three times a day, seven days a week. As they progressed, play therapy became paramount. Luckily, that was when Shree and Sage still got along.
They especially enjoyed playing on stairs. After each session they’d get a massage. Physical therapy is hard work and can be painful.
The siblings can now run and walk normally. They graduated from the program after a few months and went home to the Miller Park Zoo where they proceeded to get on each other’s nerves. They were retired from the SSP program because of their congenital condition. The zoo had Shree spayed.
“Shree does not require any additional treatment and her mobility is fine,” says Sugasa. “She has also been diagnosed with mild inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). At this time the IBD is so mild no medication or treatment is needed. But she’s not a good candidate to continue in the SSP program.”
“Shree will be Safe Haven’s first snow leopard placement and we are thrilled to have her,” she added.
If you’re interested in helping install Shree’s shade cloth, Safe Haven is looking for volunteers this weekend, June 1 and 2. For liability reasons, volunteers must be 18 or over.
Snow leopards are most active at dawn and dusk. Those who attend Safe Haven’s 2024 Campout on Saturday, June 27, might glimpse the elusive Shree. Check-in starts at 4 p.m., followed by a tour at 6 p.m. For more information, call Safe Haven at (775) 538-7093.