Engineering students discovered an exceptionally uncommon and stunning black leopard while on a safari in an Indian natural history book.
The huge feline was captured on video drinking from a pond and tracking its food at Radoba Book last month. The encounter has been dubbed “special” and “like finding a needle in a haystack.”
The dark layer of the creature is caused by melanism, which is when the extra black pigment is deposited in the skin or hair as a result of a recessive gene mutation.
It’s thought that melanism aids predators by giving them better camouflage in these areas, allowing them to hunt more successfully.
There are only 2,000 black leopards in the wild, with most found in Southeast Asia. Exotic forests provide a lot of shade, which is beneficial for these cats.
