Sanjay Gubbi is no stranger to leopard conservation. Originally from Tumkur district, Karnataka, he spent his high school years in the rocky outcrops and scrub forests. “This is where I got a chance to learn, appreciate and understand the larger aspects of this cat, which immensely fascinated me,” shares the Bengaluru-based scientist and conservationist. In February 2016, a direct face-off with a leopard, which had entered a school in his home city, had left Gubbi severely wounded, with a bit of his right humerus—a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow—chipped off. “Having faced its mammoth power, especially the canine bite, has made me realise how powerful these animals are. I felt like a prey animal when the leopard was holding my right arm in its mouth and clawing me all over.” His admiration for the animal, he says, has only grown since then, and made him feel more committed to its protection.

Leopards, says the author, are one of the most beautiful wild cats in the world that are found in 63 countries. Pic courtesy/Sudhir Shivaram