[Leica] Black Leopard Experience

[Christopher Crawford]

That reminds me of something I've noticed with some black housecats. In the right light, you can see tabby-cat stripes on some of them! Though many cats are solid colored or bicolored, most have stripes. I should have thought of that; the black leopards are keeping their spots just like black cats keep their stripes.


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On 8/6/24, 6:28 AM, "LUG on behalf of Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG" <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org <mailto:chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org> on behalf of lug at leica-users.org <mailto:lug at leica-users.org>> wrote:


Christopher, Don, Luis and Alan


Thanks for looking.


Luis, The vehicle was open on all sides - the leopard could have been on my
lap with very little effort - but in all wildlife areas around the world,
they do not perceive vehicles, or, indeed, the humans sitting inside as a
threat, so, as long as we do not do anything abysmally stupid, we are safe.


Chris, the black leopards are just the melanistic version of the normal
spotted leopard, and they retain all the features, except the colour of
their skin. They breed as well, "normal" leopards see nothing abnormal
about the black ones.


Don, If I remember right, bounty hunting is outlawed in Kenya, even in
privately owned conservancies


Cheers
Jayanand


On Mon, Aug 5, 2024 at 11:44 PM Lluis Ripoll via LUG <lug at leica-users.org <mailto:lug at leica-users.org>>
wrote:


> Hi Jayanand,
>
> I’m really impressed, great shots of this wonderful big cat! Portrait and
> Eye contact are my favorites, a shot at 2 or 3 meters away ….! I can’t
> imagine, I suppose your vehicle was well protected! a good adrenaline rush!
>
> Cheers
> Lluis
>
>
> > El 5 ag 2024, a les 17:13, Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG <
> lug at leica-users.org <mailto:lug at leica-users.org>> va escriure:
> >
> > I returned a few days ago from Laikipia in Kenya, off the beaten track,
> > and gaining currency in wildlife circles as a place to go for unique
> > encounters with a wild, 3 year old black leopard called Giza.
> >
> > Laikipia is in the North Central part of Kenya, and is a place to go for
> > leopards, (one) black leopard and wild dog sightings - and as it is
> located
> > in a private conservancy, you can be out till 9pm. Thanks to this, night
> > sightings of leopards are plentiful. Giza, too, did not disappoint, she
> > showed herself in more than 50% of the drives we did, and she had no fear
> > of vehicles, making the sightings really satisfying. The service at the
> > River Camp where we stayed was excellent, and the staff did whatever they
> > could to keep us comfortable. That is the good news.The bad news is that
> > accommodation is rustic/basic and the food was of indifferent quality. A
> > landowner suddenly found that a black leopard cub was visible on his
> lands,
> > and hastily built a few structures and started charging exorbitant
> amounts
> > (over US$1000 a day per person) for the experience - which is tailored
> more
> > towards the general tourist rather than photographers, but it is early
> days
> > yet, and they will surely learn to cater to photographers in the days to
> > come.
> >
> > The experience is most certainly unique and out of this world, and
> probably
> > is the only one of its kind available, that I know of, for close
> encounters
> > with black leopards, but comes at a high cost, especially given the basic
> > quality of the boarding and lodging. The demand is certainly there,
> though,
> > as they are booked solid till July 2025!
> >
> > On reflection, I am indeed glad that I did go there.
> >
> > A dozen photographic studies of Giza are available here:
> >
> > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Laikipia/ <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Laikipia/>
> >
> > Please see LARGE
> >
> > Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Jayanand
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
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