Its image is often used in stories, but because the number of ” black panther ” individuals is so rare in real life, many people do not even know of their existence.
Taking artistic photos of wildlife has never been easy, even for veteran photographers. Not only does it simply require photography techniques, but the important thing is the effort to travel to the most wild and remote places, the perseverance and patience to be willing to sacrifice many days and months to spy on the wildest and most remote places. “lifetime” moment.
However, life is often full of irony. There are photographers who waste their whole lives trying to find a moment that can make people remember but fail. There are also people who, without any effort, just by chance, can capture a “unique” moment that makes people admire.
Like the story of 24-year-old Anurag Gawande, during a trip to Tadoba National Park in Chandrapur, Maharashtra state, India, he encountered an extremely rare animal .
It is a picture of a black leopard hunting.
To talk about the rarity of black leopards, zoologists estimate that there are only about 2,000 left in the world, most of which live in Southeast Asia, where the rainforests are tropical.
For more than 100 years from 2019, there have been no cases of black leopards recorded in Africa, except for photos taken in captivity.
The first photograph of a black leopard was taken in Africa in 1909 in Ethiopia.
The phenomenon of black leopards is a genetic variation that occurs in some large leopard species. Black color appears due to genetic mutations related to melanin metabolism.
According to research, this mutation process coincidentally provides excellent camouflage for the host, making the animal harder to detect when hidden behind layers of vegetation.
Anurag Gawande said: “I was extremely shocked when I saw a rare black leopard suddenly appear in Tadoba National Park in Chandrapur while hunting deer. This is truly a unique moment, I am lucky witnessed”.
Leopards are currently one of the endangered species in the Red Book with their numbers gradually decreasing.