Pune-based photographer, Abhishek Pagnis’ first wildlife trip turned surreal as he ended up clicking a semi-melanistic leopard after waiting for two-long hours for the ‘perfect shot’ at Maharshtra’s Todoba Reserve.
Abhishek didn’t have high hopes about spotting animals during his two-day safari trip with his parents during the month of June but little did he know, he’d get lucky and he’d end up spotting a rare black leopard, that too on his first safari trip.
While talking about his experience of clicking the wild cat which went viral all over social media, Abhishek Pagnis said:
It was my first ever wildlife trip where we were looking mostly for tigers. We started looking for leopard on our last day of safari after having enough sighting of tigers.
The 23-year-old was mesmerized by the majestic creature when he saw it for the first time. He said that he’d never seen anything so beautiful.
The rare animal owes its dark coat to melanism, with excess black pigment developing in the skin or hair due to a recessive genetic mutation. Melanism allows the leopard to blend into the shadows. It helps them become nearly invisible in the dark.
Professional wildlife photographers spend countless hours to catch a glimpse of such rare animals so, you can imagine how lucky Abhishek got. It was an incredible moment for him and an unforgettable experience that will always remain close to his heart. He said:
I knew there are black leopards but I was very lucky to have spotted it during my first safari trip. I was very lucky as I could see it for 40 minutes. I witnessed it drinking water from a pond, marking its territory and stalking langurs and monkeys. It was a brilliant experience.
Twitter was also amazed with these pictures. Here’s what they had to say.
His experience surely exceeded his expectations. And, we’re just glad he got a chance to click some amazing, mind-blowing pictures of the leopard for all of us to see.