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Most people know you want to keep your distance when you encounter a dangerous animal in the wild. However, one skier in China learned why you want to avoid getting up close and personal with a snow leopard after being wounded while trying to take a selfie with the animal.
“Do It For The ‘Gram” may be a relatively antiquated phrase, but its essence is still alive and well thanks to the many, many people who let intrusive thoughts win and make some questionable decisions in their quest for clout on social media.
A study that was published a few years ago asserted selfies have earned the right to be classified as a “public health concern” due to the number of people who have died while trying to take one, which seemingly included an Italian tourist who was killed by a bear in Romania in 2025 after he took multiple pictures chronicling close encounters with those animals.
America’s national parks are also the site of far too many videos featuring people who’ve decided to ignore the signs warning them not to approach the wildlife that roams them. Some of them are lucky enough to walk away unscathed, but the same can’t be said with a woman in China who ignored common sense after crossing paths with a predator on the ski slopes.
A skier in China was injured after attempting to take a selfie with a snow leopard
Asia is the only continent on the planet that’s home to snow leopards, which have a habitat that stretches as far east as Afghanistan but are primarily found in the vicinity of the Himalayas and Siberia.
The felines are classified as a “vulnerable” species with a global population below 10,000, and around 60% of them call western China home. That includes the ones that can be found in the Keketuohai UNESCO Global Geopark, the approximately 900-square-mile preserve located in Xinjiang.
That area boasts a ski resort where visitors are advised to remain at least 10 feet away from any snow leopards they might encounter; they generally don’t go out of their way to attack humans, but there are some exceptions.
According to The Telegraph, that includes an incident that transpired on January 23rd when a woman who was skiing approached a snow leopard in pursuit of a selfie and was subsequently rushed to the hospital after suffering “severe facial injuries” when it attacked her for getting too close.
Her helmet may have minimized the severity of the mauling, but a slightly graphic video captured her being led away from the scene by some bystanders who came to her rescue while clutching her bloodied face. She was listed in stable condition, and officials in the area say they have ‘intensified safety patrols” while stressing the posted warnings she ignored.