Here's looking at you: Wildlife photographer catches rare close-up footage of a snow leopard after it spots his hidden camera

PUBLISHED: 10:29 EST, 9 March 2013 | UPDATED: 12:09 EST, 9 March 2013

Rare close-up footage of the snow leopard, one of the world's most endangered species, has emerged.

Taken using a hidden camera, the footage shows a snow leopard in the mountains of Qinghai Province, China.

The images were captured on infrared cameras by wildlife photographer Matse Rangja, who has
only managed to film the leopard once before in eight years.

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The rare footage, showing a snow leopard up-close and personal has emerged to delight nature enthusiasts

The footage was taken in the mountains of Qinghai Province, China

Rangja hide the infrared camera between two rocks, so he could be out of sight and not scare the animal away.

The video shows a curious snow leopard sniffing around the rock and then walking over to the camera to check it out.

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Snow leopards are rarely seen by humans and are listed on the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species.

It is estimated the total worldwide population is only around the 5,000 mark.

What's this? The inquisitive snow leopard takes a closer look at the camera

The camera was hidden in some rocks so as not to scare the snow leopard away

The camera, hidden between two rocks, has captured the intimate images

It is believed there are only 5,000 snow leopards left in the world

Rare video images of snow leopard caught in China

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Love it. I wanna reach out and scratch its chest (in my mind, anyway, where my limbs stay safely attached)

- afrissore , Marlborough, 10/3/2013 16:09

Click to rate Rating 12

Wow. And I was so proud of our raccoon and possum footage! :D

- LaraC , Atlanta, 10/3/2013 14:24

Click to rate Rating 8

good thing he did not show up while they were placing the camera... love that curious face! LOL

- Siobhan , San Francisco, United States, 10/3/2013 03:54

Click to rate Rating 26

Cats are cats, cameras left around are going to be properly sniffed. One camera was 'stolen' by a pair of subadult snowleopards and thus it had a cat eye view of the landscape along with some teethmarks.

- Crabby , Prescott, 10/3/2013 03:23

Click to rate Rating 16

Please don't tell the Chinese about him. He'll be skinned alive in no time.

- Freddie Mercury Fan , St. Louis, United States, 10/3/2013 02:41

Click to rate Rating 33

What a magnificent creature

- jacki , indianapolis, United States, 10/3/2013 01:25

Click to rate Rating 51

Imagine that on your bed at night,.............you would never get out to go to the bathroom.,lol.

- Fireball XL5 , Lostinspace, Benin, 09/3/2013 23:34

Click to rate Rating 20

It's quite possible animals can see the infrared spectrum so this camera might well be as 'out of sight' as a bright torch due to it's LEDs. These photos are also standard visual spectrum, not infrared images. Enough nit-picking though, this animal is stunning!

- Say what , Senseville, Australia, 09/3/2013 23:01

Click to rate Rating 27

Beautiful cat.

- hugo , London, 09/3/2013 22:34

Click to rate Rating 50

Brillaint but I agree with 'I-am Batman' KEEP YOUR MITS OFF OF IT!

- xcountmeinx , Herefordshire, United Kingdom, 09/3/2013 20:30

Click to rate Rating 58

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