This is an very old snow leopard. In order to compete for a killed blue sheep, he fought with a young and strong snow leopard, fighting from the top  of mountain to the foot of the mountain, then from the foot to the top of the mountain. The herdsmen at the riverside  saw the fight and knew that the old snow leopard was seriously injured. The next day, they went up the mountain with the rangers to look for them.

When they found the snow leopards, the old snow leopard was lying on the blue sheep, confronting the young snow leopard. Its front and rear legs were injured, its front legs were bitten through, and it was unable to walk.

When people approached, the young snow leopard walked away, and the old snow leopard opened his mouth and roared. The originally sharp and slender canine teeth had no edge at all, leaving only half of the Yellow column and incomplete premolars.

It is estimated that it can no longer hunt large prey such as blue sheep, and it is in winter, the marmot has also hibernated, so it has to risk its life to fight for the prey of the young snow leopard.

It's hard for it to survive in the wild! The rangers decided to take it to the village for treatment.

They first threw a rope loop around its neck from one side, and then threw a rope loop around its neck from the other side。After holding the position of the snow leopard on both sides, a herdsman came forward to hold its long tail, and then tied its legs and mouth with ropes. A forest ranger carried it on his back, took it to the village, put it in an cage for treatment, and also took down the blue sheep it competed for.

It could hardly move. I slowly opened the cage door, and it just looked at me quietly.

The veterinarian treated its wound and injected antibiotics. The villagers arranged a personl to feed him with water and food. Under the care of people, it gradually recovered. Just when people were happy, one morning, it disappeared from its cage!

At night, it opened the plank at the bottom of the cage, gave up rich food, and returned to the snow covered wilderness. Obviously, between the ease in the cage and the hard freedom, it chooses the latter.

A few days later, the herdsmen found it again by the river near the village, and it was not far away. People took it back to the cage again, and later made a big cage for it.

This happened in Zhenda Township, Shiqu County, Sichuan Province in November 2019. Two years later, I went to see this snow leopard again. It recovers well. When someone approaches the cage, it will roar loudly and make a fierce attack posture,

Serious injuries caused by same kind of animal fighting are relatively rare. There is no rescue and antibiotics in the world of wild animals. Serious injury means death.

The Austrian zoologist Lorenz, who won the Nobel Prize, said in the book "the ring of King Solomon": "Wolves in the fight will not bite off their partners' necks, and birds will not peck the eyes of the same kind. If animals have formed weapons that can kill the same kind in the process of evolution, in order to survive, such animals must form a corresponding social taboo to avoid this weapon endangering the survival of the race."

Most of the fights between snow leopards are threatening and warning, such as the following situations.

 How old is this snow leopard? I guess it was about 12 years old when it was rescued. It is already a very old snow leopard in the wild. I have never seen such badly damaged teeth. It is about 15 years old now.

How long does a snow leopard live in the wild? There is no exact data. In captivity, some snow leopards live to 21 years old. Predators like snow leopards live much shorter in natural environments than in captivity.

There is a saying about aging: "there is no aging in wild". Wild animals will die of other factors before they die of aging. Only those animals that are trained or rescued will enter the aging stage.I think this statement is probably appropriate for snow leopard..

The snow leopard was rescued by people and entered the aging stage. It gives us a good opportunity to observe how many more years this snow leopard can live in the cage?

The leopard will not worry about eating and drinking in the cage, but I guess it will miss its freedom and loneliness in the wilderness.