'The eternal couple': Leopard and black panther couple spotted together in a rare moment
Just a few days after picture of rare black panther--saaya-- went viral, another remarkable picture of the animal has surfaced on social media. But in the new shot, the cat is not alone. A photographer managed to take a rare photo of a leopard and black panther couple walking together in a forest in Karnataka, India.
The photographer, referred to as Mithun H, reportedly captured the awesome moment at the Kabini Forest Reserve during the winter season last year.
The picture shows the Black Panther standing right behind a leopard. It has been captured in such a way that it creates an impression that the leopard is casting a black shadow.
According to the photographer, the panther, whom he called 'Saaya' and the leopard, named Cleopatra, have been courting for four years. "Usually in the courting pairs generally it is the Male who takes charge and moves around with the female following close behind. But with this couple it was definitely Cleo who was in charge while the Panther followed," Mithun wrote on Instagram.
"This was shot on a surreal winter morning when a single Deer alarm led me to this breathtaking sight."
Mithun later told the The Indian Express that he stayed in the same spot for six days to capture the image. He noted that he could hear the two animals mating about 100 meters away but could not spot them due to limited visibility.
“They had made a large kill and would not move until it was over,” Mithun, with 12 years of wildlife photography, explained.
Following the successful hunt of the couple, Mithun waited at a spot at the edge of the panther’s territory where the male feline would take the leopard after consuming their prey.
“It was a fruitful wait though,” Mithun said in the report. “I could wait for (six) years for a moment like this.”
He also pointed out that Cleopatra has been in the reserve since 2009 while Saaya arrived in 2014 “as a [sub-adult] shy cat trying to establish territory.”
However, the two only began courting when Saaya finally managed to assert his dominance in 2016. Mithun has been following the two animals since.
