In a first, a leopard with two different-coloured eyes has been photographed in Bandipur Tiger Reserve by photographer Dhruv Patil.
Heterochromia Iridum is a very rare genetic mutation which causes each of the two eyes to have a different colour. This phenomenon has not yet been documented in a big cat in India.
For the first time ever, while Patil was hosting a safari in Bandipur, he spotted the old female leopard on a tree. When he went back home and zoomed into the clicked picture, he observed clearly that the leopard had one bluish-green and one brown eye.
“It’s incredible to document such rare mutations in such elusive creatures. Firstly, melanistic leopards like the black panther in Kabini, and now heterochromic leopards in Bandipur. It’s truly incredible to witness Mother Nature’s marvels,” Patil, who is a member of Karnataka State Wildlife Board, said.
Earlier, Patil had captured a black panther with his camera at Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary near Mysuru. He had spent over 9,000 minutes, 150 hours, or almost seven days on a single road in a national forest in Karnataka to wait for a glimpse of the elusive black panther and capture it with his camera.
Patil had also captured a rare albino deer in the Kabini forest area in the past.
“Usually, deer possess shiny brown skin. Deer with white or pale white skin are found once in a while. However, such deer do not form any special species,” Patil had told a news portal. According to him, their skin attains a white or pale white colour due to congenital defective genes, and the lack of melanin pigment remains the reason behind this.
Patil started wildlife photography in 2013 and has had field experience in the jungles of Africa and the Americas. Patil founded the Society for Protection of Animals and Plants in 2011. Now, the organisation has an active volunteer base of about 10,000. He has also adopted many animals at Mysore Zoo and is also taking care of many birds at his home.
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