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South Africa Is Home To The World’s First “Strawberry” Leopard
16 Apr 2012 by Albi P in Animals, Conservation, Nature, Very Cool
Recently published photos have revealed what is believed to be the world’s first “strawberry” leopard. The big cat was discovered in South Africa’s Madikwe Game Reserve and is an incredibly rare find.
Deon De Villiers, a photographer and safari guide, recently photographed the unique animal and sent the images to experts at Panthera, a U.S.-based wild cat conservation group, for investigation. Luke Hunter, the president of the group, believes the predator suffers from erythrism, “a little-understood genetic condition that’s thought to cause either an overproduction of red pigments or an underproduction of dark pigments.”
Above the "strawberry" leopard and below a typical leopard
It’s really rare—I don’t know of another credible example in leopards,” he said. “There are some spotted leopard skins and melanistic specimens—black panthers—in museums with red undertones, but fading probably contributes to that.
Despite the condition, the animal does not suffer from any ill consequences as far as Hunter can tell, “He’s obviously a successful animal.”
He also added that,
It’s surprising that [a photo of the leopard] didn’t come out sooner, because he’s relatively used to vehicles.
[Source: National Geographic]
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http://onestilettoatatime.blogspot.com Abby
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