Tag Archives: Ismail Sheriff – Photographer of Snow Leopards in India

Ismail Shariff the ‘Snow Leopard Man of India’ shares his journey

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TELANGANA :

What started as documenting his own life in Europe while pursuing his Masters gradually gained direction and came to focus on wildlife photography.

Hyderabad:

 His photographs of a snow leopard from Spiti, Himachal Pradesh broke the internet, literally. Yet the man is still calm, unassuming.

Ismail Shariff, Hyderabad-based nature and wildlife photographer, is known to wildlife and photography enthusiasts as the ‘Snow Leopard Man of India’. His long and passionate association with photography began in his student days. What started as documenting his own life in Europe while pursuing his Masters gradually gained direction and came to focus on wildlife photography.

Picking up his first camera in 2005, Ismail was treated to the magnificent sight of a huge male tiger in 2008 while on a trip to the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. That was the defining moment of his life. “It became one of the reasons for me to move back to India to pursue of wildlife photography and tourism here,” he said.

Ismail, an alumnus of the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, has been part of nine snow leopard expeditions in the last seven years with the recent one being in 2020, apart from several other wildlife expeditions. The first thing that strikes his mind about snow leopards is the long fluffy tail, blue eyes, thick fur and a true-blue cat attitude. Snow leopards are one of the world’s most elusive animals and the most common way to spot one is high up on the mountain ridges. After an hour or more of patient stalking in Spiti in 2017, he finally spotted a snow leopard passing by. The shots he posted on various wildlife photo websites are trending even today.

“I was obsessed with snow leopards ever since a photograph taken in 2012 by Dhritiman Mukherjee, India’s leading wildlife photographer,” said Ismail, adding that seeing the mysterious ghost of the mountains for the first time in Hemis National Park, Ladakh, was an unforgettable experience in itself.

Ismail said the snow leopard is a notoriously elusive creature. It is also listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List since the global population is estimated to be between 4,000 to 6,000. India is believed to have less than 1,000. That adds stars to his journey from just another photographer to being called the Snow Leopard Man of India.

“There were struggles. My parents were expecting me to get a corporate job. But I chose photography as my career. It was tough initially, since you’ve to invest a lot of time and money with very uncertain returns to make a name. But at the end of the day, if you want to be successful, you have to be willing to work hard, even if it means making more than a few sacrifices along the way,” said Ismail, a Computer Science engineer from Central European
University, Budapest, Hungary.

He moved to Paris to work there for two and half years before wildlife photography took over him.

Ismail, who has had solo photography exhibitions on Snow Leopards even in Los Angeles and New York, also indulges in fine art printing. He also works with the Snow Leopard Trust in helping raise funds for their conservation efforts.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Hyderabad / by Sowmya Sangam / May 01st, 2021

Rare honour for Hyderabad’s wildlife photographer

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Ismail01MPOs27aug2019

Hyderabad’s Ismail Sheriff only lensman to be invited to conference on snow leopards in Kazakhstan

For city-based wildlife photographer Ismail Sheriff, known for capturing the elusive snow leopards on camera, it was a rare honour to be invited as the only lensman to a recent conference on conservation of snow leopards in Kazakhstan.

The conference attended by delegates from 12 countries including Russia, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mongolia, focussed on initiating various measures to increase the population of snow leopards.

“It was indeed an honour to be there. I am glad that my adventure in Kibber (Himachal Pradesh) where I first sighted a snow leopard five years ago and subsequent sightings of the magnificent species helped me come thus far,” he tells The Hindu.

Rare captures of the elusive snow leopards by City-based wildlife photographer Ismail Sheriff. PHOTO: Special Arrangement
Rare captures of the elusive snow leopards by City-based wildlife photographer Ismail Sheriff. PHOTO: Special Arrangement

Mr. Sheriff, 39, started off on the big cat trail nine years ago, mostly photographing Royal Bengal Tigers and gradually moved on to snow leopards.

“India has about 250 snow leopards and interestingly, there are no territories for them like tigers. They often travel across about 150-200 square km, transgressing even borders of a few countries,” says Mr. Sheriff, who is into fine arts printing apart from pursuing his passion in wildlife photography.

“Unlike spotting tigers in a reserve forest, this is a different ball game altogether because the biggest challenge comes from the freezing conditions. Often, we have to brave life-threatening landslides and avalanches. It was a spine-chilling experience for me,” he explains. “But, still these factors don’t deter me as anything related to a snow leopard gives me joy,” he adds.

The maximum snow leopards, Mr. Sheriff says, are in China — about 2,000 — and it is Kazakhstan’s national animal and hence, that country’s concern for conservation is pretty much understandable.

“Groups of wild dogs pose serious threat to the leopards, especially the cubs. They also deny food to the leopards by taking away their kill. And, then there is climate change which is making the snow leopards come closer to the human habitat,” he points out.

What are the corrective measures being planned? “It has been decided to have a four km grid with trap cameras to understand their behavioural pattern, density and prey base, and educate the locals about the importance of protecting them. We generally travel to the mountain ranges during winter and by the time we have the second edition of the conference in January 2020, we should have more practical solutions to ensure an increase in their numbers,” he concludes.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – August 26th, 2019