A 24-year-old wildlife photographer in India has managed to capture an extremely rare black leopard on camera.
The man was reportedly standing around 30 ft away from the animal when the incident happened.
Anurag Gawande filmed the melanistic leopard while they were on a trip at the Tadoba National Park in Western Maharashtra.
The picture was taken last month.
In the images that they took, the black cat was seen crossing a track and staring straight into the camera.
Talking about the moment, he said:
It was surprising because we thought we will see a tiger but we saw black leopard strolling on the pathway!
The best thing about this story is that Anurag has captured the rare leopard last year on camera too!
Talking about this time, he said:
This was my second time that I was watching it. I felt the same thrill while watching it but this time I was aware of its moment. We kept our vehicle off and kept enough distance so that it will not move from the spot.
When Anurag spotted the very rare animal, the wild cat was hunting for food.
Anurag said the cat was hunting a deer at the time.
He continued:
We were tracking a tiger but on the way on Tadoba lake we heard a deer call and at the next moment we saw Black leopard. It was sitting on the pathway. Then he saw a deer and then he tried to hunt that deer but he failed. Then again it came back on road and sat there for 15-20 minutes and we got some amazing shot of the majestic animal. It is the only black leopard of Tadoba national park.
Such an amazing catch!
What are your thoughts on the extremely rare pictures that Anurag took of the very rare animal? Let us know what you think about it by leaving a comment in the comments section below!