2023-05-23 07:15:38
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — In these impressive images, this black panther looks more like the character “Bagheera” from the animated movie “The Jungle Book”.
The owner of the images, Indian wildlife photographer Chaz Jung, grew up in the jungle and has been fascinated by black tigers since the first time he saw a black tiger.
Documenting the black panther quickly became a sought following goal for Jung, to shed light on the mysterious animal.
While chasing his dream, the Indian wildlife photographer devoted the next five years to exploring the Kabini forest in Karnataka, India, and came back with some beautiful shots of this extremely rare species of animal.
Jung told CNN in Arabic that the black panther is a term that refers to large animals with black fur, which results from a melanistic condition, pointing out that this type of animal is very rare, which makes documenting it a difficult task.
As a naturalist, big cat specialist and wildlife photographer, Jung saw himself fortunate to live in a forest that became home to the black leopard in 2015. “This gave me a rare opportunity to study the black leopard in Nagarhole Tiger Park in southern India,” he said.
And the Indian wildlife photographer wanted to do something no one had ever done before: track and tell one’s story regarding black tigers.
The Indian wildlife photographer explained that he devoted the next five years to this, and built a strong collection of images that he used to present a presentation for the “National Geographic” channel, pointing out that he then became the director of photography for a movie entitled “The Real Black Panther” on the “National Geographic” channel. , which took three years to produce.
The biggest challenge was not taking pictures and videos of the black leopard, but rather telling its story over the course of a few years.
There was only one black tiger in this dense forest of more than 700 square kilometers, and it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
On most days the black panther outshone the photographer with his intelligence, as the Indian wildlife photographer explained that the beauty of wildlife lies in its unpredictability.
For example, in 2018, Jung went 81 days without seeing a black panther, and on the 82nd day, on a foggy morning, he emerged from his hide in the jungle with a deer in his mouth.
This was Jung’s favorite moment, as it was the first time that a wild black leopard had been documented with its prey.
“Nature writes its own script and there is nothing we can do to control it,” Jung said. “The challenges are enormous, but the rewards are even greater.”
The Indian wildlife photographer saw social media platforms as a powerful tool to showcase his work to millions of people around the world. “I have the ability to show these images of black panther to a large community, which helps spread awareness incredibly,” he said.
From Jung’s point of view, there is something exciting regarding this animal, as it reminds us of the character “Bagheera” from the animated movie “The Jungle Book”, which forms a large part of many people’s childhoods, considering it an unparalleled mystery.
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