2008: Behaviour: Mammals - Runner-up
Steve Winter (USA)
Mark of the snow leopard
'I found a Himalayan trail used by a snow leopard, then set up my remote-controlled camera knowing it used the rock in this shot for leaving scent marks at night. After a month or so I finally got the image of the cat marking its territory - complete with a sprinkling of snow.' Snow leopards mark their territory and advertise their breeding status with faeces, scent sprays and urine. They leave these messages for others because they spend most of their time alone. In relatively prey-rich Nepal, their territory is 40 square kilometres - almost twice the size of Central London. But in Mongolia, where there is less food, their territory is up to 1,000 square kilometres.
Canon EOS Rebel XT + Canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM lens at 14mm; 1/200 sec at f16; ISO 100; waterproof camera box + Plexiglass tubes for flashes; Trailmaster 1550-PS remote trigger.
View other winners in this category
-
Adult awards Mouse pounce Patrick Centurioni
View
-
Adult awards Frodo's prize Cyril Ruoso
View
Search the online gallery
Enter a keyword to search for images from the 2008 competition
Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is co-owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide.
All intellectual property rights in the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition images are retained by the photographer. Any reproduction of the images without prior written consent will constitute an actionable infringement. For information regarding permission to use competition images please email us.