Dangerous Incaution: Snow Leopard Pounces on Selfie-Seeking Skier

This just in: Apex predators are dangerous, particularly to clueless people looking for a great selfie.

Of course, anyone who grew up around wild critters knows this. There's a reason that there is a metaphorical caution about poking the bear, because real bears are dangerous, and don't suffer poking lightly. Turns out that in China, snow leopards don't enjoy posing for selfies, and one skier learned that the hard way, by nearly becoming the rare cat's lunch.

A female skier was mauled by a snow leopard after getting too close to try to take a photo, with a chilling video capturing her being led away with blood pouring from her face.
The footage shows the victim lying prone in the snow wearing a purple ski suit after the animal mauled her on Friday evening in Fuyun County at the northern Chinese border with Mongolia.
She is then seen being taken away from the scene with blood pouring from her face.

Here's a photo:

This person nearly became lunch. pic.twitter.com/XGsVhHm7zq
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) January 26, 2026

Now, look how that leopard is lying there in the snow. To someone who has studied animal behavior and field zoology - like me - that looks a lot like a predator guarding a kill. And that's very nearly what it was. And, I might add, for the dumbest of reasons.

The tourist had spotted the rare big cat in the snow and had gotten to within 10 feet of it to take a picture, according to reports in China.
A ski instructor eventually chased the snow leopard away by waving his poles.
The victim was saved from more serious injuries by her ski helmet, but still had to be rushed to a local hospital, where she was said to be in a stable condition.
It comes as Chinese authorities have issued a warning to visitors of multiple recent snow leopard sightings in the area.

It's tempting, at this juncture, to point out that this is why the Darwin Awards are a thing, but let's not go there.

To Protect His Wife, Canada Man Takes on Apex Predator and Lives to Tell the Tale

Snow leopards are extremely rare, and China is home to most of the surviving population. But that doesn't make them harmless. They are dedicated mountain predators, can leap 30 feet, and can survive in the harshest, most vertical environments. They aren't as big as a lion or tiger, but they are fast, strong, and they are obligate carnivores, meaning they only eat meat.

And this nitwit moved in for a photograph. To within 10 feet. One wonders if she realizes how lucky she is to be alive.

This seems to happen a few times a year. Sometimes it's a bison, sometimes it's a bear, sometimes it's a big cat or some other apex predator. I chalk it up to the increasing urbanization of pretty much the entire developed and developing world, where too few people have any experience with wild animals and wild places. I also think that silly Disney and other films and television shows are partly to blame, portraying all creatures great and small as furry little people, not wild creatures with instincts for self-preservation above all.

The lessons keep coming in, and we keep seeing people who haven't absorbed them. Wild animals can be dangerous and should be given a wide berth. Why is this idea so difficult to get across to these people?

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