How to spot the notoriously shy snow leopard in its natural habitat

Ahead of Earth Day 2021, photographer Ismail Shariff — whose eye-catching wildlife photography of snow leopards in the Himalayas has gone viral — tells us how to pick out this elusive big cat in its natural habitat

Hyderabad-based wildlife photographer Ismail Shariff was enroute to Ladakh on work when he decided to take a break at Dras, in Kargil, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the Himalayan brown bear. Ismail and his team knew they were in luck when they learnt that a brown bear had strayed into a nearby village for food; he whipped out his camera and captured them at leisure. While Ismail’s photos of the brown bear show the mammal in all its glory, something unexpected happened when he posted the shots on various wildlife photos websites — his photos of a snow leopard in 2017 resurfaced started trending, receiving over 12,000 shares and 58,000 likes.