A group of travelers in India's Spiti Valley were treated to an incredible sight recently when they came across a beautiful snow leopard sharing the road, the Hindustan Times reported.
"While traveling from Kaza to Nako, around 8-10 km after crossing Tabo, we witnessed something unforgettable — a snow leopard on the road!" said the original poster of the video on Instagram. "These rare creatures are hardly ever seen, especially in May. It stood there calmly, blending into the rocky Spiti landscape. Truly a magical moment of our journey."
In the video, the silvery feline can be seen trotting along the road ahead of the car.
"She is trying to run away from us," says one passenger, per the Hindustan Times.
"Of course she will run. Don't get too close, she can easily break the side window," another responds.
Catching sight of one of these creatures is an incredible piece of good luck. Clouded leopard populations have been at risk for decades, although conservation efforts have started them on the slow path to recovery.
Some surprising initiatives — like this effort to turn locals from keeping livestock to keeping bees — have made a difference in protecting the leopards (which in the past were sometimes killed for hunting farm animals).
This sighting is made all the better by the responsible wildlife encounter behavior displayed by the travelers in this case. As the speakers in the video note, they kept a respectful distance and stayed in the car — important safety tips for dealing with wild animals.
Too often, tourists seeking a photo op will invade an animal's space, which is unsafe for both the animals and the people. But this time, everyone escaped the encounter safely, and the video did not come at the cost of any risk.
This was truly a one-in-a-million encounter.
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