These are some unique places.
Black leopards are a rarity, and black leopards with visible spots are even rarer. When 24-year-old photographer Anurag Gawande saw one of these beautiful creatures this month during a safari in Tadoba National Park in India, he knew he was blessed with true happiness.
“It was surprising because we thought we would see a tiger, but we saw a black leopard walking around on the path,” Gawande told the Daily Mail he was only 30 meters from the leopard.
About 11% of leopards have a pigmentation condition, referred to as ‘melanistic’, that makes both their coats and skin black, according to the Daily Mail. The unique genetic event has unfortunately made such creatures targets for poachers, and it is estimated that only 12,000 to 14,000 of India are still populated.
He managed to catch several shots of the animal, which he says is the only black leopard in Tadoba National Park, after failing to catch a deer and resting on the red clay road.
“It comes on the road again and sits there for 15 to 20 minutes, and we get a wonderful shot of the majestic beast.”
Their meeting this month was not Gawande’s first: he also encountered it last year, but it did not make the recent meeting any less special.
“It was my second time watching it,” he said. ‘I felt the same excitement as I watched it, but this time I was aware of the moment. We kept our vehicle down and kept enough distance so that it could not move from the place. ”
In 2019, a photographer also made headlines when he photographed a black leopard in the Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya. Also in 2019, a rare ‘strawberry’ leopard was photographed in South Africa.