WWF Maximum cards from Kyrgyzstan: snow leopard (Uncia uncia)

Beautiful feline, very elusive.

"Snow leopards are carnivores and actively hunt their prey. However, like all cats, they are opportunistic feeders, eating whatever meat they can find including carrion and domestic livestock. They are capable of killing animals three times their size but will readily take much smaller prey such as hares and birds.^[5]

The diet of the snow leopard varies across its range and with the time of year, and is dependent on prey availability. In the Himalayas it preys mostly on bharals (Himalayan blue sheep) but in other mountain ranges such as the Karakoram, Tian Shan, and Altai, its main prey consists of Siberian ibex and argali, a type of wild sheep, although this has become rarer in some parts of the snow leopard's range.^[4][13] Other large animals eaten include various types of wild goats and sheep (such as markhors and urials), other goat-like ruminants such as Himalayan tahr and gorals, plus deer, boars, and langur monkeys. Smaller prey consists of marmots, woolly hares, pikas, various rodents, and birds such as the snow cock and chukar.^{[4][5][13][14]}

It is not averse to taking domestic livestock, which brings it into direct conflict with humans. Herders will kill snow leopards to prevent them from taking their animals.^[5]

Snow leopards prefer to ambush prey from above and can leap as far as 14 meters (46 ft).^[15]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_leopard}

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^{What do you know about Kyrgyzstan? :)}

^{It's OK - welcome to the club.}

^{But we can have fun learning, can't we?}

^{"The 40-rayed yellow sun in the centre of the flag represents 40 warriors of the mythical hero Manas. The lines inside the sun represent the crown or tündük (Kyrgyz түндүк) of a yurt, a symbol replicated in many facets of Kyrgyz architecture. The red portion of the flag represents peace and openness of Kyrgyzstan."}

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyzstan}

Cool dam, or hot dam? It's Oroville Dam maximum card/maxicard (USA)

http://www.delcampe.com/page/item/id,0037961902,language,E.html

Oroville Dam, the tallest dam in USA.
I've been to Hoover Dam, another impressive construction.

"Oroville Dam is the tallest dam in the United States and is within the top twenty dams in the world for dam height and volume of dam materials. It is an earth-fill dam, stands 770 feet tall, is 6,920 feet (2,109 m) long, and holds 3,537,577 acre-feet (4.364 km³) of water. Construction started in 1961 and was completed in 1968, at a cost of $187.8 million; however, as a result of the multi-purpose nature of the dam (designed to provide water supply, flood control, power generation, and fish and wildlife enhancement), the total costs were $563.8 million.

Over the past 12 years the dam has saved an estimated $1.2 billion in flood damage to the surrounding area. "

"It was not known until 1975, when a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred near Oroville, that the dam sits on top of an active faultline. This caused serious questions to be asked regarding the Auburn Dam which was just beginning construction at the time and was never built as a result of the possible geologic risk."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroville_Dam

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"Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. When completed in 1936, it was both the world's largest hydroelectric power generating station and the world's largest concrete structure. It was surpassed in both these respects by the Grand Coulee Dam in 1945. It is currently the world's 38th-largest hydroelectric generating station.^[5]

This dam, located 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction, first as the Secretary of Commerce, and then later, as the President of the United States. Construction began in 1931, and was completed in 1936, a little more than two years ahead of schedule. The dam and the power plant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.^[4][6]

Lake Mead is the reservoir created by the dam, named after Elwood Mead, who oversaw the construction of the dam."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_dam

WOA (Wonders of America) American Bison - The largest land mammal (in North America) - maximum card/maxicard

I love this photo...:)

"The American Bison (Bison bison) is a North American species of bison, also commonly known as the American Buffalo. Some consider the term "buffalo" somewhat of a misnomer for this animal, as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffaloes", the Asian Water Buffalo and theAfrican Buffalo. However, "bison" is a Greek word meaning ox-like animal, while "buffalo" originated with the French fur trappers who called these massive beasts bœufs, meaning ox or bullock – so both names, "bison" and "buffalo," have a similar meaning. In reference to this animal, the term "buffalo," which dates to 1635, has a much longer history than the term "bison," which was first recorded in 1774.^[2] The American Bison is more closely related to the Wisent or European Bison."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison