Master of camouf lage, a snow leopard hiding in plain sight

HIDING in plain sight is just one of the snow leopard’s many predatory skills.

This picture, taken as snow fell at the Highland Wildlife Park at the weekend, has had many scratching their heads as they try to spot where one of the wily felines is hiding.

In July the park, near Kingussie, Invernessshire, welcomed two of the big cats as part of a three-year agreement with the Snow Leopard Trust and Norden’s Ark in Sweden, which coordinates the European breeding programme.

The felines, Chan and Animesh, have settled in at the popular park, which is part of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS). Their hill-top enclosure overlooking the Spey and Cairngorm Mountains has a large grassy plateau and a steep cliff face.

Douglas Richardson, head of living collections at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park, said: ‘It’s wonderful to see our snow leopards settling well in their new enclosure.’

The animals, native to central and southern Asia, are endangered, with only 3,500 to 7,000 left in the wild. There are an additional 400 in zoos across the world.