Photo of the Day #918: Black leopard

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A black leopard (Panthera pardus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.


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A black leopard (Panthera pardus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
A black leopard (Panthera pardus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
A black leopard (Panthera pardus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
A melanistic leopard (Panthera pardus), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.

I think that's one of the best face portraits of a big cat that I've ever seen.

Usually you get a photo of the cat either:

1) Snarling at the camera (and these can be pretty cool).
or
2) Staring placidly off into space.

This one is different. It also has action and character. There is also a fairytale threatening quality about it: "'I'm going to eat you,' said the Black Panther to the Brave Little Something-or-Other..."

You should enter this one in some contest, or try to use it in one of your books. Or possibly sell it to a stock photo place. (Sadly, I don't know how you'd actually go about doing that.)

By Stevo Darkly (not verified) on 16 May 2010 #permalink

Good closeup. Something I've always read is that black leopards are common in Asia, but almost never occur in Africa. I've yet to hear anyone explain why.