The Snow Leopard carefully picks its way down the near vertical cliff face CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LIGHTBOX
THE Snow Leopard that is! Well, the best encounter of the 13 sigthings we had on my recent Wild Images/Birdquest Ladakh Snow Leopard special tour. Our visit to little Saspotsay started very slowly with a couple of unproductive short birding walks. There were a few Hill Pigeons among the Rock Doves but alas no Snow Pigeon. A Golden Eagle was sky dancing over the cliffs that tower over the small village and a few Robin Accentors and Cinereous Tits were in the bushes that line the fields below. We had just decided to explore the vicinity of the monastery that overlooks the village but as soon as we rolled up there, we got a call on the radio, ‘Snow Leopard!’. Not only was it a Snow Leopard but it was at a kill in the village! Nazir demonstrated his awesome driving skills in turning the minibus on a sixpence and we raced downhill to where the boys were gathered, behind the village looking up one of the narrow ravines that emerges at the foot of the tall cliffs. They told us that the cat had left its kill, an ibex wedged between some large boulders. The leopard had forced the poor ibex off the cliff and it fell to its death on the rocks below. Even more amazingly, the kill was directly behind one of Jigmet’s Snow Leopard Conservancy’s Himalayan Homestays! A villager had simply shouted to him ‘There is!’… ‘There is what?’ he wondered for a few seconds! Anyway, he was already arranging access for us and we were soon drinking masala chai in the yard of the homestay and waiting for the leopard to return to its kill only around 50 metres away.
‘The cat is here!’ said Jigmet
In typical style, Jigmet said ‘the cat is here’, I’ve heard him say this lots of times now! The cat was indeed here, sitting high up on the crag looking down at the kill. I had been so sure that it would approach down the narrow ravine it had disappeared into but no, this incredible animal thinks nothing of climbing up and down sheer cliffs. Time went by and local folks came and went too, taking a look at the cat, excited kids held up by their mums so they could see. At last the leopard tired of the magpies bothering it and came down, more or less straight down, except for one small detour around a vertical section. Wow! An amazing show of agility. Even a passing Wallcreeper spotted by Jacob couldn’t distract us! We hid out of sight for a short while so it would continue all the way to its kill and then it proceeded to tuck in, starting with the intestines and juicy bits. An awesome experience but we did feel a bit sorry for the female ibex. We returned to our mountain homestay very happy after a very exciting day! Maybe it was the excitement, but I was still at 89% oxygen saturation this evening or maybe I was still struggling after the exertion of the Spango hikes a couple of days earlier?
Well there wasn’t really a question about where we would start the following day. We were back at Saspotsay before dawn in the hope of some more Snow Leopard action. However, there were far too many other folks with the same idea, a traffic jam of taxis and minibuses clogged up the tiny village’s streets. The leopard was also clearly full after a night at its ‘all you can eat’ ibex buffet. Although it was still on view, for a while at least, before noise levels grew too high, the views and light (in now overcast conditions) were nothing like the previous afternoon so we went off to look at the monastery. The government-funded road stretches a little further each year and has now reached the monastery but there wasn’t anything going on here either so after a lunch gathered around another second-hand Indian army wood burner at Jigmet’s son’s in-laws we headed back to Ullay. We had another enjoyable session watching the White-winged Grosbeaks, cracking rose hips again in the lower fields. At dusk the female flew into the sacred juniper tree, next to Nilza’s place, the only bird I’ve ever seen in it. Finally thanks a lot to Mr Snow Leopard himself, Jigmet Dadul, veteran of way over 300 Snow Leopard sightings and his Snow Leopard Quest team, without whom none of this would have been possible.
The party’s over. Next day Snow Leopard tourists at Saspotsay.
Sleepy Saspotsay. The Dzo (Yak X cow cross) has no idea of the danger lurking nearby.
Commander Jigmet Dadul co-ordinates another Snow Leopard encounter.
Our minibus driver, Nazir from Kargil. If there is a better mountain bus driver I didn’t meet him yet.