SPOTTED! THE GREY GHOST

This World Environment Day, THE WEEK takes you to the cold mountains of Ladakh-home to the highest number of vulnerable snow leopards in India-bringing back tales of an exciting chase, a first-hand account of man-animal conflict and the comforting knowledge of how people in remote Himalayan villages are learning to coexist with the enigmatic but elusive cat

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After landing in Leh by plane, the first day went by as if in a drunken daze. Acute mountain sickness (AMS) hits quickly-head throbbing, thoughts muddled and the spirit weighing down. It feels worse when you are on assignment. In the past, I had reached Ladakh the slow way, by bike and bus. Days of gradual ascent acclimatised the body to adapt to the thin, high-altitude air. But this time, it was a quick climb. The only consolation was the breathtaking aerial view of the Himalayas unfolding beneath.

Winter had receded, and the landscape had begun to shed its white coat. Snow was giving way to exposed rocks and trickling streams carving through the slopes, revealing a terrain where the enigmatic mammal disappears into its own myth, blending perfectly into the most challenging environment for humans and a perfect habitat for 'the ghost of the Himalayas'-the snow leopard.

Despite years of wandering through the jungles of south India, I had never once encountered a big cat in the wild, not even by chance. And now, here I was, chasing one of the most elusive felines on the planet. My aim was ambitious: to document not just a sighting, but the complex tapestry of human-snow leopard interaction that had resulted in another rising example of man-animal conflict, the burgeoning snow leopard tourism industry with its promises and perils and the impact of climate change-how it might be subtly altering the behaviour and habitat of this apex predator. That is how I ended up in Ladakh, home to the highest number of snow leopards in India.

None of this would be possible unless I found an obsessive tracker willing to forgo sleep, comfort and meals in pursuit of the wild adventure.