(ORDO NEWS) — Such a leopard is one for the entire National Park, and maybe for the whole of India. Black fur with distinct leopard spots is an incredible rarity. See how much grace and beauty this wild cat has!
An ordinary Indian student received an incredible honor: for two years in a row, the rarest black leopard in the world went on safari to him.
The first time was last year, and then Anurag Gawande was not quite ready – he was crushed by shock and admiration, but still managed to make some great shots. This year, he purposefully went on a safari to Tadoba National Park to meet up with an old friend.
And here is luck! The guy was heading to the car, when he suddenly heard a rustle in the bushes. He was sure that a tiger, which is abundant in this part of Maharashtra, would come out to them, but he saw a black leopard.
A beautiful black cat, flexing its muscles, was about to hunt a deer nearby. The leopard was about to cross the road, but a sound from the photographer’s direction caught his attention.
The beast turned to the camera, and then sat down on the red dust of the road, as if placing itself in a frame – just ten meters from the photographer.
Black leopards are incredibly rare, and this leopard is doubly rare. The fact is that black kittens, “panthers” are born to ordinary spotted parents as a result of a gene mutation. Such children may be born to leopards or jaguars, and both will be called “black panthers.”
Melanistic wild cats are only 11% of the population, and this is among the already endangered species! Poachers are working to reduce their numbers, for whom the black panther is nothing more than valuable fur.
Safari parks, zoos and wildlife sanctuaries around the world are doing what they can to save endangered species. In the US, the cheetah has been trained to act like a decent dog so it can attend public events and remind people of the importance of protecting wildlife.
A leopard caught in the lens of a 24-year-old student is even rarer. The fact is that his skin is not uniformly black, like most panthers. The characteristic leopard spots are clearly visible on it – only he looks as if he had bathed in an inkwell. There is only one such panther in the entire National Park. It is possible that it is the only one in all of India.
With these words, he accompanied a picture of a hunting leopard (by the way, the cat missed his prey, the deer left untouched). But these words can be applied to the photographer himself. For a whole year, he regularly came on safari to the National Park.
He shot birds and buffaloes, ordinary leopards fell into her lens more than once, and once he even captured small tiger cubs trailing behind their mother’s tail. But Anurag did not give up his dream – to look into the eyes of a black leopard again.
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