This magnificent life size standing leopard is handcrafted and luxuriously soft. Crafted by artisans, this extraordinary plush is a true statement piece. 

Snow leopard facts:

Description Snow Leopards are rare leopards that live in the high mountains of Central Asia. They naturally live from Afghanistan to Kazakstan and Russia in the north, and India and China in the east. They prefer to live in rocky outcrops, cliff areas, and ravines because these provide them with camouflage that is useful when ambushing their prey. The thick fur of Snow leopards keeps them warm and their powerful hind limbs enable them to leap as far as 50 feet. Moreover, they use their long tail for balancing and as blankets for covering the sensitive parts of their body. Snow leopards are classified as carnivorous animals and they normally prey upon the blue sheep of Himalaya and Tibet, as well as the mountain ibex. They also eat wild goats, hares, wild sheep, rodents, marmots, and game birds. They are considered solitary creatures and only pair during the breeding season. Furthermore, another interesting fact is that they cannot roar unlike other huge cats.

Status Snow Leopards are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Endangered. Over the past two generations or 16 years, their population is estimated to have declined by at least 20 percent. The reason behind this is that they are killed by herders because they prey on domestic animals. Moreover, other major threats include habitat loss and poaching for the illegal trading of pelts and body parts that are utilized in traditional medicine.

Portraits in Nature is a hand-crafted collection of realistic plush animals. Artists working in a socially responsible and environmentally responsible studio create each Hansa animal from portraits of the creature in its natural habitat.

The Hansa Story
Artisan hand sew the animals "inside out", an old world tradition that results in the mininisation of seams, and their bodies are carefully "sculpted" to create "musculature" and "features" like movement in a walking or sitting position that are unique to each creature. On average, there are 42 separate pieces required to make each animal, that must be combined by a team of truly creative artists to create the distinctly realistic features that characterise HANSA animals. (Some animals have as many as 240 different parts!) Each animal is individually hand sewn, to give it a unique "personality", there are more than 860 different fabrics and man-made furs from which the "coat" and "hides" are made, along with over 6000 sets of different eyes, whiskers, claws, noses, and related accessories allocated for creating these wonderful plush animals. Stuffing emphasises careful attention to the placement of the highest quality man-made materials.

When you hold these wonderfully "life-like" animals, you will see and feel HANSA's emphasis on quality, which is a result of careful attention to design, custom fabric selection, cutting, sewing, stuffing, eye placement, feature creation, framing, air brushing and finishing. Since each animal is hand sewn, there will be slight variations in appearance.