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Thursday, 26 March 2020

PHOTOS: Rare black leopard caught on camera

The footage was captured by a member of the public on their way to work on 24 February in the Gauteng Province and was shared with the Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation.
The foundation posted the video on its Facebook page and explained just how elusive the species tends to be.
It said: "It's the stuff that urban legends and folklore get built around. A phantom, an illusion, a shadow so rare that most people believe they don't actually exist.
"Fewer than 35 sightings of wild black leopards have ever been scientifically documented in South Africa in over half a century; and clear pictures or video evidence are virtually non-existent - most people having spotted these elusive phantoms crossing a road or disappearing into the bush without the chance to take a picture."
The leopard - which is also referred to as a black panther - derives its dark coat from melanism, the opposite of albinism. While albinism causes whiteness due to a lack of pigmentation, the genetic variation melanism results in an excess of dark pigmentation.

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