black leopard (credit: bob|P-&-S)

Last night the team at Leopard’s Den came across a black leopard. When reports of a black leopard in the area came in De Plessis was immediately dismissive of the reports saying that black leopards did not live in the area. Should he have been quite so quick to dismiss the sightings?

Black leopards are not a seperate species.

Black leopards are not a separate species but a genetic variant of the leopard species. This means that where ever you get leopards you have the potential to get black leopards. There are two types of black leopard – one is rare the other is incredibly rare.

It is feared that continued habitat loss will lead to the leopard being moved up to vulnerable designation within a few years.

The first type is melanism based. This is when the colour of the leopard’s fur is so dark that you can not see the traditional spotted markings of the animal unless you look very closely. These black leopards can be born into any litter of leopard cubs. It a little bit like how albino-ism will lead to the births of white leopards – you can not predict where or when it will occur.

De Plessis claim that they don’t live in the open savanahs of Leopards Den has some element of truth to it. This type of melanism appears to be more frequent in leopard populations found in densely forested regions. It’s believed that the darker colour gives a benefit to the leopards and so they are more likely to survive longer and pass on the melanism gene to the next generation. That doesn’t mean that a black leopard will father or give birth to another black leopard – there’s no guarantee that the gene that produces darker skin will be dominant.

The second type which is incredibly rare is classed as pseudo-melanism. This is when the spots of the leopard dominate the skin so much that the leopard looks black or very dark. The golden coloured skin is effectively hidden by the darker markings. This type of leopard is very rare but again can be born into any leopard cub litter.

Captive breeding for pet trade has led to smaller and weaker leopards.

Wild black leopards are very rare but as humans encroach on more and more wildlife habitat we can expect to see increasing reports of them. Wild black leopards are more likely to be seen and discovered in Asia than the savanahs of Africa.

While generally you can not predict where or when a black leopard cub will be born, there is one way where a black leopard cub is certain – that is when two black leopards mate. This has sadly been taken advantage of by the pet trade where black leopards (aka black panthers) have been highly prized. But continued in breeding has led to a weaker gene pool and captive bred black leopards tend to be smaller and weaker than their wilder cousins.

Future for black leopards.

Because black leopards are a genetic variation of normal leopard species their survival in the wild is no different to the survival of normal variants of leopards. At the moment leopards are classed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List. Sadly some of the biggest habitat losses have occurred in South Africa where Wild at Heart is filmed. Globally leopards have disappeared from over 36% of their historic range. It is feared that continued habitat loss will lead to the leopard being moved up to vulnerable designation within a few years.