Snow Leopards of Leafy London filmed at Codicote big cat Sanctuary

 
  Snow Leopards of Leafy London was shot at the Big Cat Survival Trust in Codicote 
 

By Helen Wright, Reporter Sunday, November 17, 2013

Snow leopards might not be the first thing to spring to mind when you think of Codicote, but a new wildlife series is about to change that.

 
Snow Leopards of Leafy London was shot at the Big Cat Survival Trust in Codicote by Adrian Cale

Snow Leopards of Leafy London started broadcasting on Monday and was shot over 18 months at the Cat Survival Trust in Codicote. The seven part series was made and presented by Adrian Cale for Animal Planet and is being shown all over the world.

The 47-year-old has 15 years’ experience working as a producer, photographer and wildlife presenter and could not resist the chance of working so closely with the creatures. The series is the first of its kind to study snow leopards so closely, as they are usually extremely hard to film.

 
Snow Leopards of Leafy London was shot at the Big Cat Survival Trust in Codicote 

Speaking to the Welwyn Hatfield Times he said: “Snow leopards are one of our most elusive big cats. “They are wonderful but [images] take a long time to get. You have to camp for days, or even months, in Pakistan or Asia to get them. But by studying them in captivity we got to watch them closely for a year and see how they behave.”

 
Snow Leopards of Leafy London was shot at the Big Cat Survival Trust in Codicote

Adrian first heard about the trust while working at London Zoo through a friend, and after a visit he approached Dr Terry Moore, who runs the trust and has worked with the big cats for 30 years, about the possibility of making a series. “I got here and thought there is a TV show in this,” he said. “Most people don’t even know there are snow leopards in Codicote, the trust is just behind a shop.”

One of the best parts of filming for Adrian was seeing the bond between Dr Moore and his snow leopards. “It was incredibly humbling to see,” he said. “The trust the animals have in him is extraordinary. He has a magical special relationship with them.”

The series has been broadcast all over the world, and there has been particularly good feedback from South America, where the trust does some work in Argentina. “It seems to have resonated and struck a cord,” said Adrian. “This is one of the last places it has been shown, but we wanted as many people to see it as possible. We didn’t want to broadcast it when half the country was away on holiday.”

Snow Leopards of Leafy London is on Animal Planet at 8pm on Mondays.

source