Watch: A Rare Snow Leopard Spotted Taking A Stroll In The Mountains & The Internet Is In Awe
A rare sight greeted the internet when Parveen Kaswan posted the video of a snow leopard which was found taking a stroll in Uttarakhands Gangotri National Park Snow leopards are one of the rarely sighted beasts of the world according to WWF. The video has since then gone viral and people are in awe of the creature. The reason this video is gaining so much attention is that these big mammals are not usually spotted as they live at elevated plains.
A rare sight greeted the internet when Parveen Kaswan posted the video of a snow leopard which was found taking a stroll in Uttarakhand's Gangotri National Park. Snow leopards are one of the rarely sighted beasts of the world according to WWF. They have evolved to survive and live in some of the harshest conditions on Earth.
The IFS, Parveen Kaswan, who posted the video on Twitter, also called the snow leopard as ¡®the ghost of the mountains¡¯ and ¡®one of the most elusive species in the world.¡¯
The ghost of the #mountains. Snow #Leopard one of the most elusive #species in the world sited at Gangotri National Park, Uttrakhand. And that also on a road. Forwarded by an ifs officer. pic.twitter.com/pIkhEUcPNF
¡ª Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) July 4, 2019
The video has since then gone viral and people are in awe of the creature. In the video the snow leopard can be seen taking a stroll on a road in the Nelong valley in Gangotri National Park which is at an altitude of 11,000 feet in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand. The leopard is seen crossing a bridge and then vanishing into the mountain.
The reason this video is gaining so much attention on the Internet is that these big mammals are not usually spotted as they live at elevated plains. It is after a long time that a snow leopard has been spotted in the Himalayas and it has intrigued the wildlife community. People tweeted about the beauty of the leopard, and also how lucky were the people who spotted it.
Beautiful and threatened. Hope fewer people sight these and they are saved from possible extinction....
¡ª Meghna Girish (@megirish2001) July 4, 2019
What a beautiful elegant leopard !!!
¡ª ??????? ?????? (@VickramJaitha) July 4, 2019
too good and excellent video, really lucky to see the animal from so near a distance
¡ª TS ANAND (@TSA1976) July 5, 2019
The high-altitude Gangotri National Park is home to other rare species too - like the musk deer and Himalayan blue sheep, apart from the endangered snow leopard. Nelong Valley is quite close to the China border because of which some units of ITBP are posted there too. ITBP is responsible for the preservation of flora and fauna of the Nelong Valley.
Snow leopards are equipped to thrive in high-elevated and extreme habitat. According to National Geographic, their thick hair and wide fur-covered feet act as natural snowshoes. They have strong and powerful legs which make them incredible leapers. They can jump as far as 50 feet! As far as hunting is concerned, snow leopards prey on blue sheep found in Tibet and Himalaya and also the mountain ibex found across the range. These powerful mammals can kill animals up to 3 times their weight!
Nature is full of beautiful and dangerous creatures. Hope the sightings of such rare species like the snow leopard remain rare so that people are able to appreciate the exclusivity even more. A couple of months ago an image of a camouflaged snow leopard went viral on the internet. In the image one simply could not make out where the snow leopard was as it was hidden so well. The image baffled the netizens for long. You can check out that image here and find for yourself if you can spot the illusive snow leopard!
