An African leopard carries its cub. Photograph by Federico Veronesi.

Dusk on the plains, by Marc Mol, *top,* and Hannes Lochner, *above.*

An Amur leopard, by Matthew Roper, *top,* and a snow leopard, by Abdul Rashid, *above.*

*Top,* an African leopard, by Richard Guijt; *above,* a Sunda clouded leopard, by Sebastian Kennerknecht.

*Top,* an African leopard, by Paolo Torchio; *above,* a cub, by Lance van de Vyver.

African leopards on the hunt, by James Gifford, *top,* and Ben Cranke, *above.*

An Indian leopard, by Marius Coetzee, *top,* and an African leopard, by Art Wolfe, *above.*

Although leopards tend to be solitary animals, they can sometimes be found playing together. Photographs by Yashas Narayan, *top,* and Trish Hennessy, *above.*

Unlike most cats, leopards are strong swimmers. Photographs by Paras Chandaria, *top,* and Volodymyr Burdock, *above.*

An African Cape leopard, by Steve Winter, *top,* and a black leopard, by Will Burrard-Lucas, *above.*

Where the Wild Things Are

A new book of images by more than 90 wildlife photographers raises awareness of the dangers faced by leopards right now

If you’ve ever been on safari, you may have come across a leopard. You may have noted its densely patterned fur and golden eyes, and seen its rippling muscles in action—that velvety stealth, tail long and low. “Those who have never seen a leopard,” the British naturalist Jim Corbett wrote in his book Man-Eaters of Kumaon (1944), “can have no conception of the grace of movement, and beauty of coloring, of the most graceful and the most beautiful of all animals.”

Today, eight sub-species in the genus Panthera are still scattered across regions and eco-systems, from Botswana to China, and from Kenya to Russia. Among them is the large Sri Lankan leopard, which is slightly larger than its Indian neighbor, the regal Persian leopard in eastern Turkey, and the seductive African leopard in the sub-Sahara.

In 2000, Margot Raggett, M.B.E., was working as a public-relations executive when she was invited to stay at Sabi Sands, a game reserve a few miles away from South Africa’s Kruger National Park. After she returned to England, images of leopards traversing the savanna wandered through her thoughts.

Fate would bring her back. Ten years later, Raggett mistakenly signed up for a photographic safari at Maasai Mara, led by Jonathan and Angela Scott. When she arrived, she had no choice but to pick up a camera and give it a try. “I took terrible pictures on that trip,” Raggett told Nature TTL, an online community for nature photographers. “But I am determined to get better.”

Ever since, in an attempt to help save the imperiled Panthera pardus, Raggett has stalked the large felines across continents with a 400-mm. lens. Leopard numbers have decreased by 50 percent in Asia and another 40 percent in Africa. They are now believed to be extinct in at least 23 of their original 85 range countries.

In her new book, Remembering Leopards, Raggett has compiled photographs by more than 90 of the world’s finest wildlife photographers, including Frans Lanting, Art Wolfe, Greg du Toit, and Marsel van Oosten, who capture the magnificent creatures in their native terrain. Her introduction paints an intimate portrait of these apex predators, aristocrats of the animal kingdom. —Elena Clavarino

Remembering Leopards, part of the Remembering Wildlife charity series, is out now

Elena Clavarino is a Senior Editor at AIR MAIL

Photos: Federico Veronesi; Marc Mol; Hannes Lochner; Matthew Roper; Abdul Rashid; Rot Toft; Richard Guijt; Sebastian Kennerknecht; Paolo Torchio; Lance van de Vyver; Paul Goldstein; James Gifford; Ben Cranke; Marius Coetzee; Art Wolfe; Heinrich Neumeyer; Yashas Narayan; Trish Hennessy; Paras Chandaria; Volodymyr Burdock; Steve Winter; Will Burrard-Lucas; Remembering Leopards (all)