A British photographer Chris Brunskill captured an image of an elusive black panther in Laikipia, Kenya on March 24.
The 2-year-old female panther christened ‘Giza’ by the locals was first spotted around the Ewaso Nyiro river six months prior.
Giza is the first ever black panther to be photographed in Africa without a camera trap in a close-up encounter.
The black panther, also known as a melanistic leopard, was photographed over many nights of observation, led by ranger Joseph Mugambi.
Brunskill detailed that he photographed the panther after they began to build up an understanding of its movements.
“Getting the opportunity to track and photograph a black leopard at close range alone in the wilds of Laikipia, was both an incredible thrill and an extraordinary privilege.
“We were able to use a spotlight to track her movements, and watched her on several occasions as she crossed the river at sunset to hunt around the Laikipia Wilderness Camp before she returned triumphantly carrying her prey,” Brunskill told the New York Post.
In 2019, another black panther was spotted in Laikipia making it the first scientific sighting in 100 years in Africa.
Wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas spent six months trying to capture the melanistic cat in 2019, eventually photographing it using camera traps.
Black panthers are coloured differently from regular leopards because of a rare condition known as melanism.
Melanism is a genetic mutation that causes animals to produce more melanin, a dark brown pigment, resulting in darker skin, fur, feathers, or scales.
Most black panthers are found in Southeast Asia, where tropical forests offer an abundance of shade.
