Its not verified because nobody survived

Just to expand on this - Snow Leopards are actually insanely reclusive-- to the point they rarely even come in contact with their own kind (often avoiding each other entirely except mothers/cubs and during breeding season), and when they do it usually isn't on super friendly terms (they've got social skills at levels a lot of us on the Internet can relate to). They're also endangered, and are somewhat particular about their habitat, and tend to roam a decent amount, so they're fairly rare, and spotting them even more so.

Your much more likely to die from the cold before you even see a snowleopard.

True dat jack sparrow

Well you can pet any animal but how much depends on which animal