Over the rainbow: The incredible image of the leopard hiding in a tree against a stunning rainbow backdrop was taken in Kenya by British wildlife photographer Paul GoldsteinJudy Garland's dream-like song tells of a land somewhere over the rainbow, but she wouldn't have expected to find it populated with East African leopards.
But in this amazing photograph, the beautiful creature can be seen hiding out high on a tree branch, his tail hanging lazily down over the tree branch on which he rests.
It was taken by wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein, who found Nariku the leopard escaping the attentions of a lion on the ground.
But the incredible backdrop provided the Briton with his 'favourite ever wildlife moment'.
Nariku, a leopard well known to Goldstein and his manager at a nearby camp, had been spotted hiding in the tall tree due to a bigger cat - the lion - circling the ground below.
With leopards like Nariku normally elusive creatures, the chance to capture the feline resting on a clear branch proved too good to miss and led to an amazing portrait of the safari.
'Astonishingly [Nariku] was not only there for an hour or so but also only 200 metres from camp,' Goldstein explained.
Way up high: A leopard is bathed in the stunning light of a rainbow as it hides from a circling lion in East Africa'I was thinking it would just be a nice silhouette as I was convinced the storm had blanked out any available light but at the last gasp it shone through violently so I drove round the other side to catch it bathed in light only East Africa and especially the Mara give you.
'When I saw the rainbow I gasped, it was out for about half a minute.'
The grandeur of the scenery left the snapper 'still shaking' - understandably - as he returned to camp.
Patience: A leopard hides steathily on a tree branch while a lion patrols belowsource : dailymail
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