{"id":173752,"date":"2025-06-10T19:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T19:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173752\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T19:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T19:45:15","slug":"photographers-viral-image-of-a-snow-leopard-is-her-most-famous-but-can-you-spot-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/173752\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographer’s Viral Image of a Snow Leopard is Her Most Famous, But Can You Spot It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Three<\/a>There is a snow leopard hiding in this photo, can you find it? Answer at the bottom. | Inger Vandyke <\/p>\n

Photographer Inger Vandyke is a professional photographer of 25 years and has traveled to remote areas of the world capturing incredible photos. But her most famous image is one where you can\u2019t even see the subject. <\/p>\n

Vandyke\u2019s photos of a snow leopard hunt were the first ever to be captured at close range. But the reason why the photos continue to go viral, as they did recently<\/a>, is because it\u2019s almost impossible to even spot the elusive big cat. <\/p>\n

Captured in the mountains of Ladakh, India, while on an expedition with her company Wild Images Photo Tours<\/a>, Vandyke tells PetaPixel that she and five guests had been tracking an \u201cold male snow leopard\u201d for a few days when a sighting was reported. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe arrived just as he found a rock ledge to have an afternoon sleep,\u201d Vandyke recalls. \u201cIt was a particularly cold day with clear skies and a wind chill of around -10C [14F]. Despite the freezing temperatures, I said that we should find a large rock to hide near so we could wait.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom years of work in the mountains, I knew that predators are mostly active around dusk and since we had arrived at approximately 2 PM, I realised that this might be our only snow leopard sighting for the day,\u201d she continues. \u201cSo I thought we should sit down and see if this old cat would do something later.\u201d <\/p>\n

As the temperatures continued to plunge and the Sun was passing behind the mountain, a group of blue sheep walked into the valley \u2014 the main prey of the snow leopard on Ladakh. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wondered if the arrival of these animals might spur the old leopard into action. They did. When he sensed them nearby he woke from his slumber and slowly crept down a scree slope to see if he could hunt them. Realising there was nowhere to hide, he went back uphill and then down a neighbouring scree slope which was separated from the original one by a rocky crag. It was there he found a successful place to hide and that\u2019s when I took the photo.\u201d <\/p>\n

That was six years ago. Vandyke says the photo went viral online and is likely her most famous image. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven now when I look at it, I wonder how many leopards we might have walked past in the mountains before we finally saw this one. They hide themselves so well in the mountains of Ladakh!\u201d She adds. <\/p>\n

\u201cI still find it heartwarming that it gets an occasional revival through social media and the press. The photo is like the ultimate \u2018Where\u2019s Waldo\u2019 wildlife image with some people able to spot the leopard and many that are unable to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>Hopefully you were more aware than the blue sheep. <\/p>\n

Vandyke continues to lead photo tours as director and head photographer of Wild Images Photo Tours<\/a>. More of her work can be found on her Instagram<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Leopards are famously hard to spot, Hemant Dabi took a photo of an incredibly well-camouflaged leopard<\/a>, also in India, a few years ago. <\/p>\n

Image credits:<\/strong> Photographs by Inger Vandyke<\/p>\n