According to a report by Mail Online, a black leopard has been spotted in Africa for the first time in 100 years.
The rare animal was captured by British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas in the plains of Kenya.
In his blog, the wildlife photographer mentions how he was inspired to search and capture a black leopard after he spotted one in Kabini Forest, Karnataka in India.
Burrard-Lucas was told of a black leopard at the Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya, an area not known for the creature.
He set up a Camtraptions Camera Trap for several nights there, until he captured a pair of eyes surrounded by inky darkness. These were later revealed to be that of black leopard.
Further in his blogpost, he said:
“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.”
According to reports, 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.
Black leopard is also known as melanistic leopard because of the development of the dark-coloured pigment melanin in its skin.
Reports suggest that while 11% of leopards alive today are thought to be melanistic, most are found in Southeast Asia, where tropical forests offer an abundance of shade, and sighting one in Africa is surely a good news for wildlife conservationists.
