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Article: The riddle of Lewa Downs: the black leopard is one of the world's most elusive creatures. So when reports filtered through to Christopher Ondaatje that one had been seen on Lewa Downs in central Kenya, he dropped everything, grabbed his cameras and drove deep into the bush to fulfill a lifelong ambition: to see a black leopard in the wild.(BLACK LEOPARD)
- Article from:
- Geographical
- Article date:
- November 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Circle Publishing Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"To see the panther is very unlucky, very bad." There was a pained look in Taraiyo's eyes. "There will be drought and bad times. This is always the way when we see the panther. It is evil and should be killed. We must pray to Maa. He is the God that sees these things. We must give the black animal to him. God does not eat mankind."
The black leopard is one of the world's rarest animals, and one of the most difficult to see in the wild. As is the case in all-black individuals in other species, the variant colouration is the result of a genetic anomaly that leads to an overproduction of the dark pigment melanin. In cats, this so-called melanism results in the fur ...