They question the photographer who took "the first picture in 100 years" of a black leopard – 20/02/2019

The image has gone around the world. The British Will Burrard-Lucas represented a black leopard while he was visiting the plains of Laikipia, in central Kenya, and his work was broadcast by the media as "the first picture in 100 years" of this animal in Africa. But this statement angered Kenyans and the photographer had to go out and respond to criticism.

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As published in The countrysome social network users in Kenya have pointed out that the local population has seen this animal several times. "The people of Laikipua have spent their entire lives near the black leopard and it's still like that," Jeff Nyambogah wrote on Twitter.

They also mentioned other photographers who managed to capture this species before Burrard-Lucas. "In 2013, the" Daily Nation "photographer, Phoebe Okall, photographed a black leopard in the Ol Jogi Nature Reserve.It was in the middle of an order with her team of basic photographers when She saw it and photographed it. So the first time on nearly a hundred goes for it, "said Kenyan photojournalist, politician and activist Boniface Mwangi.

Some even pointed out that the photos had more impact because they had been taken by a Briton and not by a resident. "If a black leopard is photographed, but not by a white man, is there really?", launched the African Yolande Bouka in the same social network.

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Before these complaints, the photographer had to go out to clarify what had happened. "I'm not saying that these are the first pictures of a black leopard in Africa, but I think these are the first high-quality photos taken with photographic traps," Burrard-Lucas explained in an update. from his blog.

"The title" first in 100 years "is derived from a quote attributed to San Diego Zoo scientists who claim that my images, combined with their video, constitute the first scientific documentation of this creature in Africa for about a century. " continues the photographer.

"This was published for the first time by National Geographic, but it was later misinterpreted as "the first pictures taken in 100 years," as many media reported, "Burrard-Lucas concluded.

As reported by The country, Jan. 29, a team from the San Diego Zoo posted these images in video in the article titled "Confirmation of a black leopard living in Laikipia, Kenya" in the scientific journal African Journal of Ecology.

In this article, they point out that, for 2017, only one observation was confirmed: a photograph taken in 1909 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and kept in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington (United States ).

Therefore, it would be more correct to say that the Burrard-Lucas photos represent the first scientific documentation of this animal in Africa for almost a century. But this is not the first picture of this species taken at this time.

GS