New arrival Lena the black leopard settling into zoo near Peterborough
A new arrival is on the prowl at Hamerton Zoo – bringing delight to visitors.
Daniele – better known as Lena – the black leopard has only been at the zoo, located just to the south of Peterborough, for a couple of months, and has already proved a big hit with visitors.
Lena was born in Lumigny Safari Reserve, located near Paris, and moved to Hamerton in December.
Keepers at the zoo say she has shown herself to be very playful, enjoying games of hide and seek with the keepers and playing with her toys, and also enjoys watching the dingoes in the neighbouring enclosure.
Black leopards are also referred to as melanistic leopards or black panthers (although the latter can also refer to melanistic variants of other big cats such as Jaguars).
They are not a different species, but instead a colour variant, brought about by a recessive, inherited mutation in the ASIP (Agouti Signalling Protein) gene. This mutation is called melanism, and causes an overproduction of melanin, leading to a darker external pigmentation, relative to what would be considered typical. Despite this, Black Leopards maintain their rosette pattern which can be seen in certain lighting conditions.
Within the Leopard species, it is thought roughly 11 per cent are melanistic. In areas such as the Malay Peninsula, some estimate the frequency could be as high as 90 per cent of individuals.
For more information about Lena – and for what else you can see at Hamerton Zoo – visit https://hamertonzoopark.com/