Found this interesting short film about one National Geographic photographer’s quest to capture these magnificent and mystical creatures on camera. For me, they represent the essence of the wilderness and are one of my favourite animals. Although first described in 1775, their enigmatic nature and hostile, Himalayan habitat have meant that very little is known about the species. The first photos didn’t emerge onto the pages of National Geographic until November 1971 and it had not been captured on film in the wild anywhere in the world before then.

As far as I’m aware, incredibly, it wasn’t filmed until the beginning of the 21st Century, followed by the BBC’s landmark Planet Earth series documenting the first-ever Snow Leopard hunt sequence in its entirety during 2006, with a full kill only having been captured on camera earlier this year for the first time. You’ll find a link to these images and the story behind them below.

China, Mongolia and India are thought to have the biggest populations of this endangered species, with strong numbers also in Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan.

http://petapixel.com/2014/02/24/incredible-story-behind-first-ever-snow-leopard-kill-caught-camera/