Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/photographer-captures-rare-black-leopard/
Black leopards are a rare sight. But luckily for us, one wildlife photographer in India managed to capture the impossible.
In a rare sight, the photographer had found himself experiencing a very close encounter with the rare animal during a safari to the Tadoba National Park in the western state of Maharashtra.
24-year-old photographer, Anurag Gawande, was just 30 feet away from the black leopard and he used to opportunity to get the rare sighting on his camera. And the footage was incredible. Not only did he manage to get a clip of the animal crossing his path, but the leopard even looked straight into the camera!
According to Click-Heart TV, Gawande shared his experience, saying that it was quite the surprise. Gawande was fully expecting to see tigers, but instead he got a real treat: a black leopard wandering around the path.
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Gawande did admit that this wasn’t his first time seeing a rare black leopard, but his second. Even though it was his second time seeing the leopard, his experience didn’t feel any less magical. He said, “I felt the same thrill while watching it but this time I was aware of its moment. We kept our vehicle off and kept enough distance so that it will not move from the spot.”
The black leopard was most likely on the hunt for deer in the national park when it was spotted by Gawande. Gawande explained that they were on the lookout for tigers near the Tadoba lake after hearing a deer call. As Gawande explained, “It was surprising because we thought we will see a tiger but we saw black leopard strolling on the pathway.”
Gawande further added that when the leopard saw a deer, he tried to chase after it but had no luck. He stated that is when the leopard returned to the road and he was able to get some incredible footage of the beautiful big black cat – the only one living in the Tadoba national park.
As the Smithsonian Magazine explains, the leopard’s color is a result of melanism – a color variation that occurs in big cats such as leopards, jaguars, and ocelots. The magazine further explained that scientists have come up with a few different theories to explain why some of these wild cats develop darker coats than others of their species.
It said, “The black cats are likely better concealed at night, but the variant may also allow cats to warm faster in the sun or even ward off certain parasites.”
But this can’t always be a positive, as the Smithsonian Magazine did point out a 2019 study where it said that “markings critical to feline communication get obscured” in some cases of the all-black cats. Britannica further added that these melanistic leopards and jaguars are rare and only 11% of these animals are colored black.
Check out the rare footage down below:
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What do you think of the black leopard? Let us know!
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog
