At first glance, this might seem like a mother snow leopard (Panthera uncia) playing with her kitten, but a closer look reveals a lack of distinct spots on the cloudy fur of the smaller cat. The smaller, fully grown feline is actually a Pallas’s cat a small wildcat whose range across Central Asia overlaps with its better-known cousin.When Donglin Zhou saw a snow leopard stealthily approaching a mother Pallas’ cat on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, she was astonished. ‘Both species are hard to see at any time,’ she said, ‘let alone together.’