Snow leopard kill caught on camera for the first time ever
posted Friday, February 21, 2014 at 3:08 PM EDT
The snow leopard is an incredibly rare animal—even spotting one in the wild is an infrequent occurrence. And now, for what appears to be the first time ever, an image has been recorded of one making a kill.
Snow leopards are not only few in number, but are also famed for their stealth. Adam Riley of Indri Ultimate Wildlife Tours takes people searching for these animals in the Hemis National Park in the Himalayas. Only 50-60 of them survive in the wild, making for an extremely rare animal. On a recent trip, Riley was able to capture a sequence of incredible photos, documenting a snow leopard attacking and killing a blue sheep.
You can see the whole series of images on National Geographic, and while they may be a bit hard to make out, it's still absolutely incredible to see this event play out. It shows the entire process, from the snow leopard waiting in hiding, attacking an unsuspecting young sheep, the sheep managing to escape, and the predator sprinting after, and eventually killing, another animal. It's a dusty, brutal, and speedy attack—and one that's amazing to see recorded.
(via David Dobbs)
Incredible. Via @DavidQuammen First photos of a Snow Leopard kill in the wild. Stunning series.. http://t.co/D2j3sqpha6 @NatGeo
— David Dobbs (@David_Dobbs) February 21, 2014