A stunning picture of differently coloured leopard cubs of the same litter perched on a rock is raking in likes. It was posted online by Nature inFocus, a media and production house “dedicated to narrating stories that celebrate and champion nature”. The photo was taken by photographer Krishnamurthy S and was the finalist at Nature inFocus Photography Awards 2023 in the category of Wildscape & Animals in Their Habitat. This picture dispelled the common misconception that leopards and black panthers are two separate species. In fact, black panther is a term given to jaguars or leopards born with a black coat. https://twitter.com/ParveenKaswan/status/1699429734025760961?t=gD_WGyhEZqIZNYU7bTpOpQ&s=19 As per a report published on The Conversation website, about 11 per cent of all leopards are black. They differ from other leopards only in colour and their black coat retains rosettes or spots. The excess of black colour in some leopards is caused by a genetic condition known as melanism. In March, a video, taken by famed wildlife photographer Shaaz Jung, that showed a leopard and a black panther walking adjacent to each other in the wild went viral. The leopard named Cleo and the black panther named Saya pause to intently gaze at the camera. Both Cleo and Saya look the same in height and size, a fact that, combined with their almost coordinated moves, gives an illusion that Saya is actually the shadow of Cleo. The video was taken at the Bandipur and Nagarhole national parks in Karnataka. In November 2022, Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) that showed a black panther swiftly climbing down a tree and running away. It was shot at the Pench Tiger Reserve, which straddles Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
