What kind of mice do snow leopards eat?

i need to know specific kinds of mice, or any other kind of animal they eat, that the snow leopards eat.


Thanks :)What kind of mice do snow leopards eat?
From: http://www.snowleopardconservancy.org/pd鈥?/a>








Chapter Five 鈥?Prey Species Survey Methods


Purpose and Background


';A knowledge of prey density and predator鈥損rey ratios would help set limits for validating snow leopard numbers in a particular area. Clearly, there must be sufficient prey to support the predicted predator population. Field studies are needed to better establish how many blue sheep or similar large prey animals are needed to sustain predation by snow leopard at varying densities, with or without the presence of a buffering species like marmot.


A snow leopard population is dependent on the number of prey animals present in the same general area. A snow leopard requires approximately 1.5 to 2.5 kg of meat per day, or 40 to 45 g of food per kilogram of its body weight daily (Fox 1989). Because about 30% of ungulate prey consists of unusable items such as bone, skin, or stomach contents, an adult snow leopard would be expected to consume between 700 and 1,200 kg of prey annually. Jackson and Ahlborn (1988) estimated that a population of 150 to 230 blue sheep are required to sustain a single snow leopard without depleting the prey base, but this number could be lower in areas where livestock, marmot, and other small prey are also taken (Oli 1993, 1994a; Chundawat


1994).





The snow leopard is an opportunistic predator capable of killing prey more than three times its own weight. Therefore, it may potentially prey on most herbivores found in the same range except for fully grown yak or wild *** (Equus hemionus) (Schaller 1977). In general, food habit studies indicate that the primary prey of the snow leopard consists of the dominant wild ungulates of the region, along with a variety of smaller birds and mammals. Blue sheep and Asiatic ibex are the most common prey items, along with domestic stock, musk deer (Moschus spp.), pikas, hares and gamebirds (snowcocks,Tetraogallus, and chukar partridge). In parts of the Himalayan region, tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), markhor (Capra falconeri), urial (Ovis orientalis), and goral (Nemorhaedus goral) are killed in addition to blue sheep and ibex.


In the Tien Shan, Dzhungarsky Alatau, and other ranges of the former USSR, red deer and roe deer constitute important prey along with wild boar. Snow leopards may occasionally take Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsoni), Tibetan gazelle (Procapra picticaudata), and white鈥搇ipped deer (Cervus albirostris) along the Kunlun and on the Tibetan Plateau. Argali sheep (Ovis ammon) are now too rare to be preyed on much by snow leopards. Wild *** foals (Equus hemionus kiang), young camels, and subadult wild yak (Bos grunniens), may constituteanother rare item in the cat鈥檚 diet (Fox 1989).


Livestock are commonly killed by snow leopards, wolves, and other predators, but loss rates vary seasonally and among different areas. Typically, most losses occur during winter and early spring. Some places suffer almost no loss despite the presence of many snow leopards, while in other places one or two cats have been known to cause considerable damage. Because marmots hibernate for five or more months of the year, they are only available during late spring, summer, and early fall. Marmots probably play a very important role in helping reduce predation on domestic stock (Schaller et al. 1988; Oli 1993), but the highest livestock loss tends to occur in areas where the natural prey base has been depleted through poaching, habitat destruction, or other factors, or where calves of bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) are being poorly guarded.';





I could not find a source that listed certain mice species. Sorry. :(What kind of mice do snow leopards eat?
Food Source: The snow leopard's prey include wild sheep (such as Bharal, the blue sheep), wild boar, gazelles, hares, markhor, bobak, tahr, marmots, mice and deer. They stalk their prey and usually spring from a distance of 20 to 50 feet.