Snow Leopards in Montana!

It's a warm, windy day with temperatures still in the 30-40's every day. It’s almost The New Year and we still have barely just a skiff of snow on the ground. January is predicted to be a great month for snowfall and we and all of our animal actors are anxiously awaiting the weatherman’s prediction to ring true, bringing Snow Leopard temperatures and lots of snow! We especially need great snowy weather for our upcoming "Rocky Mountain High" Helicopter tour, February 18-19.2012. Our Snow Leopard, "Mekong" is one of many of my favorite trained animals in our animal kingdom.

Troy has done a great job of bonding with and training Mekong from just days old, even before his eyes were open. Mekong loves to frolick in the snow and enjoys the frigid temperatures that Montana offers each winter. Mekong has been flying in the helicopter since he was just five weeks old and continues to at 11 years old. This is done to enable great photo opportunities high atop the nearby mountain ranges such as the Bridger Mountains or Crazy Mountains. Afterall, his natural habitat is at elevations of 9800-18,000 feet! Their secretive nature means that their exact numbers are unknown, but it has been estimated that between 3,500 and 7,000 snow leopards exist in the wild and between 600 and 700 in zoos worldwide, one of which resides at Animals of Montana! We have our "Rocky Mountain High Snow Leopard Tour" coming up in February or in 2013 our "Shadow of the Mountains - Flying High Snow Leopard tour" of which both involve transporting photographers and Leopard to the Bridger Mountains for a one of a kind session photographing this elusive creature in a natural habitat. We are hoping for great weather and great photo opportunities.
Troy has been training not just Snow leopards but also many other animal actors such as Black Leopard, Grizzly Bears, Bobcat, Wolves, Lions, even skunks and many more! We invite you to meet all of our animal actors!