Pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper, 66 x 46cm. This painting is currently on show at Rheged Arts Centre, Cumbria having been selected for the New Light Prize Exhibition 2023/24. It is for sale through the exhibition.
This rather elegant young Snow Leopard is ‘Yashin’, one of 3 cubs born to mum ‘Animesh’, and dad ‘Koshi’ in May 2022 at The Highland Wildlife Park, near Aviemore. I was luck enough to be able to spend some time studying him when I visited the Park in July 2023. Meanwhile Yashin has moved on to Chester Zoo (as featured on BBC News!) as part of the captive Snow leopard breeding programme. He will be paired with a female from a zoo in Germany, and with luck will start his own family in the years to come. He will be playing a small, but vital part in the efforts to safe-guard the future of these beautiful and magnificent animals.