For Matthiessen, a serious student of Zen Buddhism, the expedition wasn’t strictly scientific. It was also a pilgrimage during which he would seek to break “the burdensome armor of the ego,” perceiving his “true nature.” After it was published, in 1978—first, in part, in The New Yorker, then as a book—“ The Snow Leopard,” his account of the trip, won two National Book Awards, becoming both a naturalist and a spiritual classic. It overflows with crystalline descriptions of animals and mountains: “The golden birds fall from the morning sun like blowing sparks that drop away and are extinguished in the dark,” Matthiessen writes. But it’s also an austere Buddhist memoir in which the snow leopard is as alluring and mysterious as enlightenment itself.

For one thing, there was the semi-mystical possibility of sighting a snow leopard, the bharal’s predator, an animal seen by only a very few western travellers. There was also the chance to live for a while among the Dolpo Pa, the leathery mountain people who lived a “pure” form of Tibetan culture cut off from outside influence (Matthiessen, born into Wasp-ish east coast privilege, had already spent half a lifetime as a writer escaping it in search of remote indigenous tribes and landscapes untouched by man).But more than that, the journey to the Himalayas came at a moment in the writer’s life when his mind was desperate for clarity and, perhaps, solace. Their territory and range closely mirrors that of their large, hoofed prey. In areas where there is little prey their range may be over 1,000 sq. kms. Females usually have a much smaller range than males. They use smell for communication with each other, as they cannot roar like the other members of the big cat family, and scents will last for a long time. They advertise their territory with scrapes, scent marks and scats (poo).

Our Chief Executive Dr James Cretney is leaving Marwell after 18 years at the helm

Subchapter 16.1: The Trophy Hunting Program: Enhancing Snow Leopard Prey Populations Through Community Participation Snow leopards are extremely reclusive which has made it very difficult to accurately determine the average lifespan for the species in the wild. In captivity snow leopards have lived to 21 years of age. ( Wharton and Freeman, 1988)

Marma, B., V. Yunchis. 1968. Observations on the breeding, management and physiology of Snow leopards. International Zoo Yearbook. Zoology Society of London, 8: 66-73. Vertebrata: information (1) Vertebrata: pictures (15168) Vertebrata: specimens (6827) Vertebrata: sounds (709)

Meet Marwell's snow leopards

Chapter 21: Role of Zoos in Snow Leopard Conservation: Management of Captive Snow Leopards in the EAZA Region