An amateur photographer has managed to capture an image of a rare black panther during a night hunt in Laikipia, Kenya.
Steve Darling, 74, was on safari in the area’s reserves in early September when he encountered the majestic animal hunting a small antelope.
The female was named Giza, meaning dark in Swahili, because of the panther’s nocturnal appearances in the African jungles.
In an interview with the British Daily Mail newspaper, Steve Darling explained that a group accompanied him and that he returned to the camp where he was staying. Their goal was to find a leopard.
However, when they came to a certain part of the route, the arrival of Giza surprised everyone.
“She lives around the Ewaso Narok River and crosses the shore to hunt. A beautiful young woman is soon after she abandoned her normally colored mother, who was nearby,” the photographer said.
“Giza broke the bush, easily killed a dik-dik [antílope] and climbed an acacia [árvore] to cook,” he added.
Darling also said that the black panther stayed on top of the acacia for about two hours and enjoyed the meal. After he was satisfied, he went down and went back to the forest.
“As you can imagine, photographing a black leopard using spotlights at night is not easy, and I was very happy when the results came out,” he said. “Unfortunately, heavy rain in the mountains caused the river to overflow and Giza was unable to reach other areas within our reach.”
Black panthers differ from other leopards only in coat color, a genetic variation known as melanism.
Since those with dark fur can camouflage themselves more easily, they can survive and reproduce better in their environment. This is a great advantage for these hunters during night hunting.
source: Noticias
