Snow leopard: Beyond the myth
Fri 4 Jan 8.00pm BBC Two
and Sun 6 Jan
In 2004 a team from the BBC’s Planet Earth filmed intimate images of a snow leopard, high in the mountains of northern Pakistan. The experience marked the beginning of a love affair with the snow leopard for Nisar Malik, a Pakistani journalist more at home covering the conflicts in Afghanistan than tracking wildlife.
Now he’s back, along with cameraman Mark Smith, to spend 18 months following this most enigmatic of animals. Their combined expertise allows them to gain unique insight into the day to day life of a female snow leopard. But as they build a valuable visual record Nisar and Mark are also drawn into the struggle to protect her. Set in the wilds of the Hindu Kush, this film profiles a much misunderstood part of the world, going beyond the myth to tell the snow leopard’s real story.