Our special guest for the Conservancy’s June 9, 2021, Cat Chat – Snow Leopards; What Draws Us To Them and How They Inspire Us was Susan Leibik, contributor to the book Searching for the Snow Leopard. She joined Conservancy Outreach Manager Shavaun Kidd, author/editor of Searching in a conversation about their collaboration on this special book.
Susan Leibik is an artist and writer living in Vancouver, Canada. Her work is inspired by mountain travel and the lives of animals and birds. She has traveled to the mountains of Asia where she had the opportunity to see snow leopards in both India and Tibet, which inspired her snow leopard drawing “Shan” and an essay by the same name that appear in Searching. Susan tells us that “it is an amazing experience to be in the presence of this animal.” She said that “seeing snow leopards changed her life.”
Susan and Shavaun read passages from the book and talked about the folklore surrounding the snow leopard and how its spiritual and cultural significance are becoming important tools for conservation of the species. Rodney Jackson and Darla Hillard joined Susan in sharing stories of this mystical cat’s unique and sometimes unbelievable behavior and the legends and tales of snow leopards.
