A dramatic snow leopard hunt witnessed in the high-altitude village of Kibber in Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley is going viral, after a traveller described it as the most unforgettable wildlife moment
of his life.
The man said the sighting happened on the last afternoon of his stay in Kibber, after he and his group had been confined indoors for two days due to a heavy snowstorm. When the weather cleared, the entire valley was covered in deep snow.
According to the Instagram post accompanying the video, the man said that the same female snow leopard they had seen a few days earlier appeared again. The animal had left her two cubs at the bottom of a gorge and climbed to the top alone before beginning to stalk a group of ibex.
He said the leopard moved slowly and silently through the snow, managing to get extremely close to the herd before launching an attack on the biggest male.
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The ibex fought back and broke into a full sprint towards a cliff, with the leopard still clinging to his back. Both animals reportedly slipped and crashed several times, rolling through rocks and snow.
“Initially, it appeared the leopard would overpower the ibex easily, but the animal resisted,” Novales said, as his video crossed over eight lakh views.
The man said they fell several metres and slammed into the slope just seconds before the edge of the cliff, narrowly avoiding what could have been a fatal fall.
At the last moment, the snow leopard lost her grip, allowing the ibex to change direction and escape. The leopard gave chase briefly, but the hunt ended.
“That split second allowed the ibex to change direction and escape. She chased him briefly, but the hunt was over,” said Novales.
“We were standing there shaking, trying to process what we had just witnessed. I’ve seen a lot in the wild, but this moment takes the prize,” he added.
Social media users expressed awe over the footage, calling it incredible and describing the moment as both breathtaking and intense.
“WOW. That is bloody incredible, what an encounter!! That’s as wild as it gets dude, so stoked for you,” one user commented.
“OMG!!!! this was insane,” added the other.
“How crazy is that? Wow!!! And well done on capturing the whole scene start to finish,” commented another.
