Caught on camera! Stunning picture of one of only 80 of the rarest big cats living in wild

The stunning image is the pride of the Land of the Leopard nature reserve in the Russian Far East has been sent as an entry in the 2017 PhotoTrap Russian competition.

Only around 80 of these big cats survive in their natural habitat in the wild due to excessive hunting and poaching during the 20th century. 

Now, though, numbers are rising thanks to measures to protect the vulnerable cats. 

At one point after the fall of the Soviet Union numbers were as low as 30. 

Photo monitoring is currently the main method of studying the population and quantity of the Siberian leopards. 

The park's experts unanimously declared this to be the best ever taken during five years since the park was established. 

Other pictures show two leopards romping on their territory. Picture: Land of the Leopard

The scientists have been for a long period seeking to 'catch' a leopard at this spot with a magnificent background of mountain cliffs, and finally did so.

'This is a unique image due to how stunning the landscape is and that the camera caught a leopard in full. We never had pictures like this,' said Viktor Storozhuk, monitoring systems engineer at the reserve. 

Other pictures show two leopards romping on their territory. 

Currently scientists are identifying the leopard from the image. 

For our readers who read Russian, you can vote here.

Voting is open until 25 December 2017, and results will be announced on 29 December 2017.

Other photo traps pictures taken at the Land of the Leopard Reserve