I have seen some pics of black leapards and I was wondering if anyone here has ever taken one. Seems like the ultimate trophy to me!

If you want one, get one,die it black,walla you now have a black leopard.

Geoff

My understanding is that given enough time and luck you have a real chance of killing a black faze leopard in Ethiopia. They are not importable into the US.

I don't know anyone who has taken one. Perhaps Rich Elliot will post on this as he hunts Ethiopia.

Mark

I've seen one in the Selous (some years ago) and I'm told they occur in parts of the KNP and certainly the taxidermists around Pietersburg have a few on display and I hunted with a Texan who had previously taken one in Ethiopia (which seems to produce an occasional more than most other places)

Must be a fantastic and very unusual trophy though!

While fishing in Botswana in the mid 90's, in broad daylight we had one come to the river and drink. Not a rifle near. Beautiful site. My wife spotted it first.

Nassos of Ethiopia Rift Valley Safaris has one in his home in Addis Ababa that he hunted for himself.

He also guided a client to a black leopard.

My friend Sam Pancotto has shot some black leopards in Africa and Iran. But that was a long time ago.

I believe that Rich Elliott has posted a photo on these forums of Nassos Roussos' Ethiopian black leopard.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=650104905#650104905



Nassos with black leopard.

I picked one up at a strip club once----but that is another story

quickshot, black couger?

Saw a nice one in a trophy room down near Kingsville,TX a couple of years ago. But i don't remember where he took it at. Incredibly beautiful animals.

There is a feline rescue ranch about 10 minutes from our shop and they have 2. They are still alive though. Both of them with pissy tempers. The cats seem to know what I'm thinking when I come to visit.

So sorry, they actually have 3 cats.

http://www.bigcatcare.org/Cats.htm

There are 2 black Leopards in the Bronx Zoo.

quote:

Originally posted by white north:
If you want one, get one,die it black,walla you now have a black leopard.

Probably the only way I will ever get one. I guess you could dye a mountain lion black, and mount it on a leopard form!

A friend had one here in Michigan and was forced to sell it to someone in Ohio. It was beautiful. I took some really good photos of it. You could see the rosetts under the black hairs. That was about 3 years ago/

When the Game Dept was reorganized back in the Communist days of Ethiopia, there were app. 750 confiscated leopard skins in the warehouse. They got permssion from CITES to market these skins. App. 20% were black. The high incident of melanistic phase is the leopard population in the WSW part of the country. This was our old elephant area and this is where the one in the picture came from. I saw one myself there one night when we were out spotlighting for serval. That was legal then. Still is but there isn't any quota for serval now so that's a moot point. I shot a black serval in that area. I've also seen black serval in the Omo Valley. As far as I know, no one has seen any melanistic phase cats in the Bale Mountains where the Mt. Nyala are hunted.
Rich Elliott

In India black panthers (as they are called there) are found mostly in the south western hill forests where rainfall is over 100 inches a year. They are not heard of in the dryer parts of the country.

Another great trophy would be the Albino Bongo that was taken a few years back. I remember seeing a picture of it in the outfitters advertisement in Safari Magazine.

Shakari sent me a pm and told me that the black leopards hide needed a cities permit to be sold. I guess I did not say in my last post that the black leopard is still alive and doing good! My mistake. If anybody wants to know there that big ol beautiful kitty is, I can get his address. He is well worth seeing.

I can't tell you how much I'd like to see that animal!.......