It wasn’t until only after I started talking with New York based Panthera President and leopard expert Dr. Luke Hunter, that I realised the importance of our very own Golden or Caramel Leopard as he became known by Madikwe locals. He found the photograph very interesting and said that he had not seen that colour variation in a leopard before.
This animal has been spotted a number of times in and around Madikwe, and having chatted with a few Leopard experts it turns out that there was one other individual alive that was known. Unfortunately another was found run over on a road in a rural area of South Africa. Field Guides in Madikwe have also confirmed a sighting of a ‘Caramel’ Leopard cub seen on a rocky outcrop a number of times- but unfortunately has not been spotted in recent times sparking fears of its death. It may be safe to assume that this youngster was offspring of the larger photographed leopard.
I managed to capture only one image of this amazing animal as he walked casually away from our approaching game drive vehicle early one evening. I never realised how important this single image actually is.
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