Black Panther Nagarhole National Park India

[davidedric]

You may have already seen this image since I entered it in last month's competition (it didn't "medal" by the way), but I wanted to show it again with some narrative. I think it is the most extraordinary picture I've taken in a long while.

There are, I am told, only six known melanistic leopards in the whole of India, and this is probably the only one that a tourist has the chance to see. So every visitor hopes for a glimpse of "blackie". However, his current home range is around six square kilometres, with just a few tracks running around and through, with the rest being thick jungle. The most anyone usually sees is a disappearing shape, or perched high in a tree hundreds of metres away. Anyway, on our last afternoon after a whole week in the park we turned a corner and there he was just resting in full view - less than 50 metres away - and we were the only vehicle around. We watched him for several minutes, until he got up and strolled away. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. You can see the leopard markings under the dark skin, if you look closely.

As a nice conclusion, I sent the image to the tour company, and it's now on the front of their blog describing the tour. Anyway, here he is:

[pnodrog]

It's a great image and you will look back at it with pleasure for years to come.

[Wavelength]

Really a wonderful capture!!!

[Manfred M]

Lucky you! We spent a few days in neighbouring Bandipur NP a couple of years ago hoping to see some tigers, but we were there in March, so in the dry season and no tigers anywhere to be seen. Tigers were smart enough to head to where the water (and animals they feed on) migrated to during the dry season.

[xpatUSA]

Splendid opportunity and well taken, Dave!

Moments like that are often when a Sigma battery chooses to die without warning ...

[davidedric]

Thanks, Manfred, and yes, lucky is the word! Nagarhole has the kabini river flowing through it, the river is also dammed, so wildlife does stay around there. Especially elephants, which come together in family groups (very different from Africa, though that's another story). Got a few tiger pictures, too

Lucky you! We spent a few days in neighbouring Bandipur NP a couple of years ago hoping to see some tigers, but we were there in March, so in the dry season and no tigers anywhere to be seen. Tigers were smart enough to head to where the water (and animals they feed on) migrated to during the dry season.

[Shadowman]

Nice capture and honor.

[rpcrowe]

Super capture, I love the expression on the cat's face and the way that its tail shows latent energy...

If this were my image, I would consider cropping it a bit at the top in order to remove the brighter portion of the dead tree stump... That seems to compete with the cat for my eye's attention...

[LePetomane]

Nicely done. That is an impressive cat.