I went to Australia expecting to spend most of my time taking photographs of birds, and maybe the occasional kangaroo. The first brochure I found on our arrival was for the Billabong Zoo, with a large picture of a Snow Leopard on the front. From that moment on, I knew there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity to see Snow Leopards for the first time and maybe get some photos.

Ten minutes from Port Macquarie is the Billabong Zoo Koala and Wildlife Park. While it is best known for being a Koala breeding centre, they’ve recently acquired two Snow Leopards.

They’re a brother and sister pair called Sabu and Kamala. Neither are part of the breeding program in Australia because of eye defects inherited from their father, which is why they’re together. Australia may seem an odd place to keep Snow Leopards, but they don’t seem to mind the climate as they never develop their full winter coats.

They’re very playful and enjoy playing with their keepers through the fence. Snow Leopards are classified as untrainable wild cats, so all interaction is restricted by the enclosure fence. It made photos somewhat difficult though, as the sun was going down behind the fence and making it extremely hard to focus on them. It also resulted in the interesting ‘bokeh’ effect in the above photograph.

It’s estimated that there are between 4,000 and 6,500 Snow Leopards left in the wild, and they’re often poached for their fur or killed to protect livestock, as well as losing their habitat to mining and the expansion of herding communities. The Billabong Zoo works in partnership with the Snow Leopard Trust to help provide education about Snow Leopards and raise money for conservation and research. The Trust helps educate communities who live near Snow Leopards to stop poaching and provide alternate forms of income by selling their handmade crafts internationally.