Safari trends: Snow leopard

If you are a wildlife photographer or a safari buff, you have heard (or you will soon hear) about the new destination where you will be able to find amazing big cats to photograph: Snow leopards, despite being on the brink of extinction and difficult to find, are becoming the new trend for photo safari.

This is clearly one of the nicest big cats that you can find. A large leopard (or panther) with a thick fur and a wide face hosting two blue eyes. This is a dream to photograph. But most people only know such snow leopards from the animals in zoos.

For example, in France, there is a nice specimen in Paris Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (in the Ménagerie) where I shot the photo illustrating this article. There are some nice specimens in the Woodland Park Zoo of Seattle.

The very first thing to remember is that the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is an endangered species in the Red list of the IUCN. This means that they are quite rare: In 2003 the worldwide population (see table above) has been evaluated between 4000 and 6500 individuals. This is probably below the limit to allow long term survival of the species, considering that this Asian Panther is found in an enormous area from Mongolia to India or Nepal.

The distribution is quite uneven, of course, but in most places the animal is quite difficult to find. This makes photo safaris a sort of random hunt for the animal. Furthermore, in many cases, it asks for a lot of walking, usually in high altitude and mountainous treks (Tajikistan valleys have little in common with Swiss Alps).

In all cases, the photographer should need to be able to walk for several hours, the snow leopard may be quite elusive (a specialist I met in Nepal a few years ago expected no photograph from such a photo trip; and some scientists spent months before seeing their first snow leopard in the wild).

That being said, it appears that some locations have become much more attractive for photographers since significant efforts have been applied to create a sustainable push for cohabitation between the leopard and the local population. That has allowed creation of a small economy around the tourists that come, attracted by the snow predator. Several locations in Ladak, India or in Nepal, or in Mongolia have developed significant programs where herders get some cashback in case of predation on their animals, reducing the risk of killing-at-first-sight of the emblematic animal. These have been associated with the training of local guides and the creation of the needed supportive economy (transportation, lodging, restauration, etc.) which ensures that the local people started regarding the snow leopard as a source of revenue rather than a major threat to their livelihood.

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For example, I found two of these photo tours/safaris from very serious organizations (This is not a mere walk in a National Park, and it is important to include such a photo trek in a wider support for the protection of the endangered snow leopard).

• Snow Leopard Trust: Hemis, India trek for Snow Leopard
• Wildlife Photo Tours: Snow leopard in Kibber, India
• Pamir (India): Snow leopard in High Pamir
• NatHab: Snow Leopard quest
• Discover Altai: Leopard photo in Mongolia
• Wild Images: In search of the grey ghost of the Mountains (in Ladakh, India)
• Wild Images: Snow Leopards & Wildlife of Mongolia tour (In several locations of Mongolia)
• Annette Mossbacher: Photo Tour To Photograph The Elusive Snow Leopards in the Indian Himalayas
• [FR] Un oeil sur la Nature : voyage photo au Ladakh (Inde)
• [FR] Vialala : safari phot en Ladakh
• [FR] EcoSafaris : vallée de Spiti (Inde)
• [FR] Tamera : observation en Ladakh (sans doute moins photo que les autres)
• [FR] Etendues Sauvages : voyage d’observation
• [FR] Objectif Nature : Vallée de Kibber (et voyages sur mesure)

Nevertheless, if all planets align (Mother Nature is not always sympathetic with our requirements), you’ll bring not only pictures of mountain species (blue sheep or owls and eagles) but some images from one of the most elusive and most handsome big cat, the snow leopard.

See also

• Snow leopards on Flikr
• Wikipedia: Snow Leopard