Species comparison
Tiger vs Snow Leopard
A side-by-side look at Panthera tigris and Panthera uncia across body measurements, habitat, diet, behaviour and conservation status.
At a glance
- The tiger averages about 4.4 times the body mass of the snow leopard.
- The tiger has the higher recorded top speed, at 40 mph (65 km/h).
- Both species use montane forest.
- Their ranges both include Asia.
- Red List categories differ: Tiger is listed as Endangered, Snow Leopard as Vulnerable.
Identification
How each species is named and classified.
Tiger
Panthera tigris
Snow Leopard
Panthera uncia
Tiger
Panthera
Snow Leopard
Panthera
Tiger
Panthera lineage
Snow Leopard
Panthera lineage
Tiger
Big cats
Snow Leopard
Big cats
Tiger
Bengal tiger, Amur tiger, Siberian tiger
Snow Leopard
Ounce, Ghost of the mountains
Body and movement
Published field measurements for adults. Ranges cover both sexes unless noted.
Tiger
4 ft 7 in – 9 ft 2 in (140–280 cm) Longer
Snow Leopard
2 ft 10 in – 4 ft 1 in (86–125 cm)
Tiger
24 in – 3 ft 7 in (60–110 cm)
Snow Leopard
2 ft 7 in – 3 ft 5 in (80–105 cm) Longer
Tiger
2 ft 7 in – 3 ft 7 in (80–110 cm) Taller
Snow Leopard
22 in – 2 ft 2 in (55–65 cm)
Tiger
165–573 lb (75–260 kg) Heavier
Sumatran females from about 75 kg; large males from mainland Asia exceed 200 kg.
Snow Leopard
49–121 lb (22–55 kg)
Males average roughly a third heavier than females.
Tiger
40 mph (65 km/h) Faster
Short bursts over open ground; tigers rely on cover rather than pursuit.
Snow Leopard
34 mph (55 km/h)
Rarely measured in the field; the species relies on terrain, not pursuit.
Life span
Typical adult longevity. Figures for managed care come from zoo and sanctuary records.
Tiger
10–15 years Longer
Snow Leopard
10–12 years
Tiger
16–22 years
Snow Leopard
18–22 years Longer
Habitat and range
Where each species lives and the conditions it tolerates.
Tiger
tropical rainforest, mangrove, temperate forest, grassland, montane forest
Any landscape offering dense cover, water and sufficient large prey, from the Sundarbans mangroves to Russian pine and oak forest where winter temperatures fall far below freezing.
Snow Leopard
rocky alpine, montane forest, steppe
Broken cliff, ridgeline and alpine meadow, generally between 9,800 and 17,000 feet in the Himalaya, and considerably lower in the northern part of the range where treeline is lower.
Tiger
Asia
Scattered populations in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra), Russia and China. The species now occupies a small fraction of its historical Asian range.
Snow Leopard
Asia
Twelve range countries across the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir, Tien Shan, Altai and Sayan mountains, including China, Mongolia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
Diet and behaviour
Feeding ecology, social organisation and hunting technique.
Tiger
large ungulates, medium ungulates, small mammals
Sambar, chital, wild boar, gaur calves and, in the Russian Far East, red deer and roe deer. Tigers can consume very large meals and then cache and revisit a carcass for several days.
Snow Leopard
medium ungulates, small mammals, birds
Blue sheep and Siberian ibex are the staples across most of the range, supplemented by argali, marmots, pikas, hares and gamebirds.
Tiger
Solitary and territorial
Adults hold exclusive ranges against the same sex, marked with scrapes, scent and scratch trees. A male's territory typically overlaps those of several females.
Snow Leopard
Solitary
Home ranges are very large, reflecting low prey density; individuals mark travel routes along ridgelines with scrapes and scent. Snow leopards cannot roar.
Tiger
Nocturnal and crepuscular
Chiefly active at night and around dawn and dusk, though tigers in undisturbed forest and cold climates also move by day.
Snow Leopard
Crepuscular
Movement peaks at dawn and dusk, matching the activity of mountain ungulates, with resting sites chosen for a view over approach routes.
Tiger
Solitary stalk and short rush
Tigers approach to within a few dozen feet under cover, then attack in a single explosive rush, using body mass to unbalance prey before a throat or nape bite. Most attempts fail.
Snow Leopard
Ambush from above on broken ground
The cat uses cliffs and gullies to approach unseen, then charges downhill; leaps of several body lengths across rock are routine.
Tiger
Limited
Cubs climb readily; heavy adults rarely do so except under duress, such as when escaping flood water or elephants.
Snow Leopard
Exceptional More developed
Superb on rock and scree, using the long tail for balance on narrow ledges. Tree climbing is largely irrelevant in its habitat.
Tiger
Exceptional More developed
Tigers swim across wide rivers and tidal creeks, cool off in pools during hot weather, and in the Sundarbans routinely move between islands.
Snow Leopard
Very limited
Rarely recorded in water; the species occupies cold, mostly frozen catchments where swimming offers no advantage.
Conservation
Red List category, population direction and the pressures documented for each species.
Tiger
EN — Endangered
Assessed 2022
Snow Leopard
VU — Vulnerable
Assessed 2017
Tiger
Increasing
Snow Leopard
Decreasing
Tiger
Poaching for skins and body parts, Prey depletion by snaring, Habitat loss and fragmentation, Human-tiger conflict, Infrastructure development
The most recent global assessment raised the estimated population, partly through recovery in India, Nepal and Bhutan and partly through better survey coverage. Gains are uneven: several South East Asian populations have collapsed within a generation.
Snow Leopard
Retaliatory killing after livestock loss, Poaching for pelts and bones, Prey depletion from competition with livestock, Mining and linear infrastructure, Climate-driven treeline shift
Reclassified from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2017 after improved survey data, though the assessment stressed that the change reflected better information rather than population recovery.
Notable traits
Details that do not fit neatly into a measurement table.
Tiger
- Stripe patterns are individually unique and are also present on the skin, not only on the fur.
- Tiger hearing is tuned to low frequencies, and chuffing — a soft, breathy greeting — is used at close range between familiar animals.
- A single adult may need the equivalent of a large deer every week, which is why prey density, not forest area alone, sets local carrying capacity.
Snow Leopard
- Snow leopards lack the specialised vocal anatomy of roaring cats and instead produce a wailing call known as a "yowl".
- Their tails can measure close to ninety per cent of head-body length, proportionally the longest of any big cat.
- Camera-trap and genetic surveys still cover only a fraction of the species' vast, difficult range.
Sources used for this comparison
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Global assessment categories, population trends and documented threats.
- IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group Species accounts, distribution notes and Cat News reporting for every wild felid.
- Panthera Field research programmes and species profiles for big and small wild cats.
- World Wildlife Fund Range descriptions, threat summaries and conservation programme reporting.
- Wildlife Conservation Society Field programmes, camera-trap surveys and population monitoring.
- Snow Leopard Trust Long-term ecological study of snow leopards and high-mountain prey systems.