Winter Snow Leopard and Pallas’s Cat – 2027

This new expedition, led by David Gibbon, an award-winning photographer, travels to the remote, snow-bound landscapes of western Mongolia in search of two of the world’s most difficult cats to capture cleanly on camera: the Snow Leopard and the Pallas’s Cat.

The trip focuses on two dedicated sites, Kharkhiraa and Margaz, with five full days at each to maximise our chances. Neither site uses bait, calls or lures. The cats are tracked, found and approached on their own terms, in keeping with our approach to ethical wildlife photography.

At Kharkhiraa, the Snow Leopard is our primary target. A team of four to five trackers work tirelessly from dawn to dusk to locate these secretive cats, aided by the cooperation of local herders. This collaboration provides exceptional opportunities to photograph them against snow-covered slopes, typically at 150 to 200 metres. By December, the Siberian Ibex descend to lower ground, bringing the Snow Leopards down with them to hunt. In their full winter coats and actively hunting the open lower slopes, the cats are observed during daylight hours much more frequently than at any other time of year.

After five days, our attention shifts entirely to Margaz, a rugged terrain of broken ground and boulders that offers ideal habitat for Pallas’s Cat. Pikas stay active on the sun-warmed rock at Margaz even through winter, so the Pallas’s Cat hunts in daylight here too. In its full winter coat, the densest of any small cat, it spends long spells sunning itself on east-facing ledges, sitting tight and relying on camouflage rather than fleeing. Partnering with local nomad rangers who monitor these cats year-round, we also get a second chance to encounter Snow Leopard here, framed by dramatic granite rather than snow. A female with three cubs was photographed in November 2025, and updates on active females with young for the 2027 season will be confirmed prior to departure.

Between sightings of our two headline cats, there’s also Siberian Ibex, Argali, Grey Wolf and Corsac Fox, plus a strong supporting cast of wintering raptors, all under soft, low-angle winter light.

Few photographers ever get the chance to capture both the Snow Leopard and the Pallas’s Cat in one trip, let alone see either hunt in daylight. Places are strictly limited to keep group sizes small enough for every client to get real time with the trackers and the cats themselves.