Rare African Black Leopard Photographed in Wild for First Time in More Than 100 Years

The researchers managed to record the rare appearance of black leopard in Kenya. This is the first time that this animal has been photographed in Africa since 1909.

Nick Pilfold, a scientist from San Diego, said that they shot him by "pure luck". His team set up last year cameras in isolated locations to follow a leopard group at the Loisaba preservative ranch in the Laikipia area when they heard that a black leopard was seen.

- We increased the number of cameras and in a few months we were rewarded with a amazing scene - said Pilfold. 

Leopard fur is black due to melanoma, a mutation of the gene that leads to excessive production of pigments. This is the opposite of albinism. Melanism affects about 11 percent of the world's leopard, but most of them live in Southeast Asia, while in Africa it is very rare. 

The last time the black leopard was seen in Ethiopia. Leopards are critically endangered species. It is not known how many of them have been extinct until now due to hunting, loss of habitat, and conflict with farmers.