Take a look at the image people voted to award Wildlife Photographer of the Year

By Ayana Archie

Published February 9, 2023 at 8:49 AM CST

Sascha Fonseca captured this image during a three-year bait-free camera-trap project in Leh, Ladakh, India, high in the Indian Himalayas. Because of their remote habitat, they are one of the most difficult large cats to photograph in the wild.

A photo of a snow leopard on the icy cliffs of northern India has won the people's choice award for the 58th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award, the Natural History Museum in London announced Thursday.

Sascha Fonseca's "World of the snow leopard" won first prize out of a pool of 25 shortlisted images, racking up the majority of votes from 60,466 people.

Fonseca, of Germany, set up a bait-free camera trap three years ago in the Indian Himalayas, in the territory of Ladakh.

"I'm incredibly proud to be the winner of this year's People's Choice Award and I thank all the supporters around the world for making this happen," Fonseca said. "Photography can connect people to wildlife and encourage them to appreciate the beauty of the unseen natural world."

Snow leopards, like many big cats, can be quite elusive and are great at camouflaging. There are only about 6,500 left in the wild, due to threats from poaching, habitat loss and conflict with humans.

Fonseca's photo will be displayed at the Natural History Museum, which develops and produces the competition, until July 2.

Corrected: February 8, 2023 at 11:00 PM CST

An earlier version of this story misnamed the museum bestowing this award as the National History Museum.