It may have been trapped in a wire cage, but when Perth photographer Leon Rakai zoomed in on an angry feral cat, he made a point of getting the job done as quickly as possible.
The photo can be viewed on the ABC website, which states that Mr Rakai had been on the ground in Western Australia’s south-west hoping to capture images of the¬†endangered red-tailed phascogale¬†when he happened upon the trapped tabby.
“It was probably the nastiest feral cat I’ve come across,” Mr Rakai said.
“He was ready to kill anything and everything that was in front of him, including me.
“He had a tooth missing, a half chewed tail and I was pretty happy there was a wire cage between us.”
The resulting photograph won Mr Rakai the title of Australian Geographic’s 2015 ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year Award, an award he was happy with, but second to the joy earned from his work conserving wildlife.
“I’ve always been passionate about wildlife,” Mr Rakai said.
“I’m a conservationist first and photographer second so my prime focus is the conservation of our endangered marsupials; in particular, the phascogale‚Äù.
Mr Rakai said one of the perks of his conservation work was the unique photo opportunities he had, such as the one which won him the recent award.
“It’s important that people learn what’s in their own backyards and see the importance in conserving it,” Mr Rakai said.
“It’s about getting the message across and showing people the beauty of nature as well as some of the bad stuff, such as the feral cats.”
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