The Most Beautiful Animal Species

What is the most beautiful of all animal species?  A judgement like this is obviously very subjective.   If being photogenic is the primary criteria, my vote goes to the Snow Leopard. Not only is this medium sized cat beautiful to look at, it's also a creature of incredible grace, wonderfully adapted to  the sheer rock faces of the high Himalayas, above 10,000 feet. Snow leopards have massive paws and very thick fur, with a color pattern that blends perfectly with the snowy, high altitude environment. 

Snow Leopard's are rare, and are seriously threatened by habitat loss and the Asian fur trade.  Until a few years ago, there was virtually no video of a snow leopard hunting in its natural habitat.  Then, the BBC sent a crew to Mongolia; it's sole mission was to get video footage of snow leopards.  After a few weeks of waiting, the BBC crew was rewarded with some spectacular footage of a snow leopard chasing a young mountain ibex down the craggy face of a near vertical rock cliff.

Here is a link to that snow leopard video on Discovery's 'Planet Earth' minseries     .http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Snow_Leopard#p00378k9

Alan Hunt, a well-known and much admired wildlife artist, has painted the Snow Leopard multiple times. We have a limited edition print of the one below hanging in our home.

Nomad by Alan Hunt

Here is a link to the  Snow Leopard Trust http://www.snowleopard.org/