A truly rare opportunity – on a recent trip to Kenya, photographer Leighton Lum, from Hawaii, managed to take a shot of this remarkable melanistic African leopard.
Behold a rare black leopard caught on camera on safari in Kenya. Photographer Leighton Lum from Hawaii captured these shots of this extraordinary melanistic African leopard.
Photographer Leighton Lum from Hawaii captured these shots of this extraordinary melanistic African leopard.
Leighton said: “Finding a leopard in Africa is exciting enough, being able to see a black one is at the top of any wildlife photographers dream!”. He continued to say that a melanistic leopard like this is “so incredibly rare, it’s such a privilege to be able to see one in the wild!”
Melanistic animals have an excess of a pigment called melanin that makes their skin, hair or fur very dark, or in some cases, completely black.Here is the more familiar leopard, golden-colored with black rosettes. Melanistic spotted leopards and jaguars still have the typical patterns, but they’re just harder to see.The rare wild cat had a successful hunt.Leighton said: “Finding a leopard in Africa is exciting enough, being able to see a black one is at the top of any wildlife photographers dream!”. He continued to say that a melanistic leopard like this is “so incredibly rare, it’s such a privilege to be able to see one in the wild!”
