Black leopard spotted in Africa for first time in 100 years
A black leopard has been spotted in Africa for first time in 100 years and captured in a series of stunning photograhs by an intrepid snapper.
The creature – of almost mythical status – was captured on film by Will Burrard-Lucas using specialist equipment including wireless motion sensors and high-quality DSLR cameras.
In a blog post, he tells how he first encountered a black leopard after spending three days searching the Kabini Forest in India.
The black leopard is so coloured because of melanism, the development of the dark-coloured pigment in skin and hair. Supplied
Black panthers are an umbrella term that refers to any big cat with a black coat. Supplied
Burrard-Lucas was then told of a black leopard at the Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya – an area not known for the creature.
After finding tracks, he set up a Camtraptions Camera Trap for several nights until he captured a pair of eyes surrounded by inky darkness. These were later revealed to be that of black leopard.
The photographs were captured at the Laikipia Wilderness Camp, Kenya. Supplied
The Camtraptions camera trap used to capture the animal. Supplied
“Over the days that followed I moved the camera traps around as I gained a deeper understanding of the leopard’s movements. The next hit I got was further down on the same game trail as the first capture,” he explained.
“Thereafter the black leopard disappeared and I started capturing images of a big spotty male instead – apparently he had chased away the younger black leopard.”
Published in the African Journal of Ecology, the photos represent the first scientific documentation of such a creature in Africa in nearly a century.
There are nine leopard subspecies located from Africa all the way to eastern Russia. Supplied
Most black leopards are known to exist in South-east Asia, where tropical forests offer more shade. Supplied
The leopard’s appearance is attributed to melanism - the development of the dark-coloured pigment melanin in the skin or hair of animals.
While 11 per cent of leopards alive today are thought to be melanistic, most are found in South-east Asia where tropical forests offer an abundance of shade.
Before Burrard-Lucas's picture, the only confirmed sighting of a black leopard in Africa was a photograph taken in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1909.
See more of Will's photographs on his Instagram account here.
And read his story in his own words here.
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