Black leopards and jaguars, usually called with the common term “black panther”, are often seen in modern pop-culture. There’s something almost magical about these gorgeous big cats and their pitch-black coats that just hits harder than their traditional yellow-brown spots.
When it comes to the real black panthers, however, they are not as common. Melanism, as is the official name of their condition is caused by a recessive genetic mutation. This mutation occurs in about 10% of leopards. Given that the worldwide population of wild leopards is in the low 5 digits (12,000 to 14,000 as of 2014) makes black leopards even rarer.
As with all rare things, however, seeing a black leopard in the wild nowadays is even more special. This is exactly what happened to 24-year-old Anurag Gawande in the Tadoba National Park in India. The young man stumbled upon the animal accidentally on a dirt road in the middle of the park. The leopard was hunting a deer at the time so Anurag didn’t have much time to photograph the animal but, fortunately, still managed to get a few good shots.
The end result was several absolutely stunning photos. Anurag is not a part of the national park’s staff – he was just a visitor in the park, on a safari there with his mother and brother. So, stumbling on the beautiful animal was definitely a highlight for him – he described the encounter as “unique” and “like finding a needle in a haystack”.
The Tadoba National Park is officially dubbed a tiger reserve and is the largest tiger reserve in the Maharashtra region in India. However, it’s also the home of a big number of leopards – of the 1,500-2,000 estimated black leopards still in the wild today, a large portion live in the tropical forests of South-East Asia and in India.