Owner Comments:
Country: Niue
Year of Issue: 2014
Value: 1 dollar NZD
Metal: Copper/nickel
Weight: 28g
Diameter: 38.61mm
Edge: Reeded
Mintage: 1,000
Population: 1
Grade: PF69 Ultra Cameo
Grading Service: NGC
Engraver obv: Ian Rank-Broadley
Mint: Poland Mint
Numista Rarity Index: 97
Niue’s Endangered Species series of coins has created numerous opportunities for collectors with its highly detailed designs and low mintage limits. This 2016 Snow Leopard silver proof is the 6th Endangered Species design and a product of the New Zealand Mint. As you may expect, this coin is made of .999 fine silver and weighs 1 Troy oz. Since this silver proof was issued for Niue, one side shows a detailed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The opposite side displays a leaping snow leopard. There are plenty of fine details to observe here. The 2016 Snow Leopard silver proof is limited to a mintage of just 2,000 coins.
Physical description
Snow leopards are highly adapted to their home in the cold high mountains. Their thick fur patterned with dark rosettes and spots (a pattern that is unique to each individual snow leopard) is the perfect camouflage for their rocky habitat, allowing them to stalk their prey.
Their beautiful coats are also made up of long hairs with a dense, woolly underfur to protect them against the cold.
Snow leopards have longer tails than other big cats. They can be up to 1 m in length and help the leopards to balance on steep, rocky slopes. They also provide additional protection against the cold since the leopards can be wrap them around themsleves while they are resting.
Why they matter?
From Bhutan to China, this remarkable species plays a key role as both top predator and an indicator of the health of its high-altitude habitat. If snow leopards thrive so will countless other species, as well as the millions of people whose livelihoods depend on the rivers flowing down from Central Asia's mountains.
Snow leopards are solitary and elusive creatures that usually hunt at dawn and dusk. They’re stealthy predators, able to kill prey up to three times their own weight.
Snow leopards’ favoured prey are herbivores, such as blue sheep, Argali sheep and ibex. But in many areas, snow leopards also prey on livestock, bringing them into conflict with herders.
Indeed, snow leopard habitat provides important resources for local communities – from food and medicine to grazing for livestock, and wood for shelter, heat and fuel. As well as water sources for millions of people downstream.
Main threats
Snow leopards continue to face a number of threats including habitat loss, poaching and increasing conflict with communities. And climate change is now putting the future of their mountain home at even greater risk.
Poaching: Snow leopards have long been killed for their beautiful fur, but their bones and other body parts are also used in Traditional Asian Medicine. And the illegal trade in snow leopard parts appears to be increasing.
Conflict with communities: Herders sometimes kill snow leopards in retaliation for attacking their livestock. And the decline in the leopard’s natural prey - due to hunting, competition from increasing livestock herds, and habitat loss - is forcing them to rely more on livestock for food and increasing the risk of retaliatory killings.
Shrinking home: Snow leopards need vast areas to thrive, but expanding human and livestock populations are rapidly encroaching on their habitat. New roads and mines are also fragmenting their remaining range.
Changing climate: All these threats will be exacerbated by the impact of climate change on the fragile mountain environment - putting the future of snow leopards at even greater risk. It will also endanger the livelihoods of local communities and the tens of millions of people living downstream of these major watersheds.
This courtesy the WWF.