It may have been trapped in a wire cage, but when Perth photographer Leon Rakai zoomed in on an angry feral cat, he made a point of getting the job done as quickly as possible.

Mr Rakai had been on the ground in Western Australia's south-west hoping to capture images of the endangered red-tailed phascogale when he happened upon the trapped tabby.

"It was probably the nastiest feral cat I've come across," Mr Rakai said.

"He was ready to kill anything and everything that was in front of him, including me.

"He had a tooth missing, a half chewed tail and I was pretty happy there was a wire cage between us."

The resulting photograph won Mr Rakai the title of Australian Geographic's 2015 ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year Award, an award he was happy with, but second to the joy earned from his work conserving wildlife.

"I've always been passionate about wildlife," Mr Rakai said.

"I'm a conservationist first and photographer second so my prime focus is the conservation of our endangered marsupials; in particular, the phascogale."

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Plight of the phascogale

Mr Rakai described the life of the cute marsupial as a "short, hard one."

The females live for two or three breeding cycles, producing three of four young during each of the cycles, while the males typically only live for one breeding cycle.

"All they do is look for females; they will forget about eating, they forget about predators; it's all about breeding for them," Mr Rakai said.

The agile carnivore typically emerges from its tree hollow at dusk to feed and will jump from tree to tree, using the scattered undergrowth as cover from predators as it gathers enough insects and grubs to meet its high-energy needs.

Invasive species and land clearing have both taken a toll on phascogale numbers and Mr Rakai believes its anonymity adds more pressure to its already small numbers.

He said much of the world's attention was on what he called "Hollywood species", such as lions, tigers and pandas, but hoped his photography would help.

"Once people see some of these images, people will see the phascogale is a pretty cute and cuddly creature," Mr Rakai said.

"As long as it's not latched on to the end of your finger; they have a strong little bite to them."

A shot in a thousand; Leon Rakia says this image of a red-tailed phascogale being released was always something he was hoping to capture. ( Supplied: Leon Rakai )

Using photography for good

Mr Rakai said one of the perks of his conservation work was the unique photo opportunities he had, such as the one which won him the recent award.

He said one of his most memorable shots was of a phascogale leaping from the hands of a volunteer during its release.

"I spent two or three years trying to get a shot of a phascogale mid-air; about 1,000 shots later, I finally got one," Mr Rakai said.

He said much of his inspiration came from the photographers featured in the National Geographic magazines he read in his youth.

He said he hoped his photography would, in turn, inspire others to learn about their local flora and fauna.

"It's important that people learn what's in their own backyards and see the importance in conserving it," Mr Rakai said.

"It's about getting the message across and showing people the beauty of nature as well as some of the bad stuff, such as the feral cats."