This piece captures the power and grace of a stalking leopard. The sleek form, tense muscles, and low, deliberate posture embody the animal’s stealth and predatory focus, frozen in a moment of silent movement.

Leopards have fared slightly better than other big cats but they have still been destroyed in about 37% of their African range. Populations in North Africa, the Middle East and Russia are now Critically Endangered.

Loss of habitat and prey, as well as intense persecution as livestock killers, is the chief threat to this magnificent cat. They are heavily hunted in southern Asia for their skin and bones. In western and central Africa, they are hunted for their skins, teeth and claws. In tropical forests, bushmeat hunting competes directly for prey species and may drive them to extinction even in forests that have not been logged.