Rare African black leopard captured in photographs for first time in more than a century

Camera traps snare images of elusive big cat on the prowl in Africa for the first time since 1909

A wildlife photographer has captured the first images of an elusive African black leopard in more than a century.

Pictures of the big cat striding out of the darkness while hunting for prey were taken at Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya.

Black leopards, which have a dark coat in contrast to the bright, spotted fur of most members of the species, are extremely rare in Africa and were not confirmed to be living in Kenya until now.

Images of the cat were captured by British wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas, who travelled to the country after hearing about potential sightings of the animal.

Once on location, Mr Burrard-Lucas set up a series of Camtraptions camera traps in the area, in the hope of catching a black leopard on the prowl.

Returning after several days to check what the cameras had captured, the photographer initially believed he had failed in his attempts to find a black leopard, until he checked the final rig.

“I had a quick look at the last trap, not expecting to find much,” Mr Burrard-Lucas wrote on his blog.

“As I scrolled through the images on the back of the camera, I paused and peered at the photograph below in incomprehension… a pair of eyes surrounded by inky darkness… a black leopard.

“I couldn’t believe it and it took a few days before it sank in that I had achieved my dream.”

The photographer claims his images are the first ever high-quality images of a black leopard in its natural habitat captured in Africa.

They are thought to be the first conclusive proof of black leopards living on the continent since a series of photographs taken in Ethiopia in 1909.

Black leopards are sometimes known as panthers, an umbrella term used to describe any big cat with melanism, the opposite of albinism.

However, most are found in southeast Asia, where the gene variant provides extra camouflage under dense rainforest canopies.

The new photographs form part of a paper by experts from the Institute of Conservation Research at San Diego Zoo, documenting confirmation of black leopards living in Laikipia.

After presenting Mr Burrard-Lucas’s photographic evidence of the black panther to local conservationists, a second photo of a leopard with melanism hiding in grass purportedly taken in the area 2007 was also handed to researchers.

“Collectively these images are the first reported in nearly 100 years that confirm the existence of black leopard in Africa, and the first in Kenya,” the paper states.

“Because the photograph is more than a decade older than the trail camera observations, it is likely that melanistic leopards are an established phenomenon in Laikipia county.”