Leaping snow leopards of Spiti

We had heard legendary stories of snow leopards of Spiti who would chase Ibex off steep cliffs. Theory was that this was perhaps a technique adopted by older cats or a novel hunting strategy to take down much bigger prey in this rugged terrain.

We were amazed to witness this epic scene play out in front of our eyes. An older male snow had concealed itself behind a rock, watching an approaching male Ibex, three times its size. With its prey within striking distance, it took off, leaping over soft snow piles on the edge of this steep rock face. The drop from this point was over 1000 feet through a narrow and steep gorge, into the frozen river below.

The surefooted ibex was too quick for the snow leopard, who not only missed the kill, but ended up falling over 50 feet headlong into the gorge. Miraculously, the snow leopard survived the fall to see another day! The legend of cats with nine lives lives on. Total respect for these agile mountain goats!


Video thumbnail photo by Ismail Shariff

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Video by Sanjay Khurana

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Read detailed blog on Snow Leopard photography in Spiti valley here:

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