南非拍攝到罕見“草莓”豹

南非拍攝到罕見“草莓”豹

A couple captured stunning images of a rare “strawberry” leopard feasting on a dead giraffe at a South African game reserve.

一對夫婦在南非野生動物保護區(qū)，拍到一只罕見的“草莓”豹正在享用一只死去的長頸鹿上的驚人畫面。

Images of the leopard, named for its red coat, were caught on a motion-sensitive camera set up by Alan Watson, 45, and his wife, Lynsey, 41, at the Thaba Tholo Wilderness Reserve in late July. The pair pinned the camera to a tree located near a dead giraffe — which was killed following an “intense” thunderstorm, per the UK-based outlet SWNS — in the hopes of capturing images of scavengers coming for their next meal.

今年7月底，45歲的艾倫·沃森和41歲的妻子林西在塔巴托洛野生動物保護區(qū)安裝了一架動作感應(yīng)相機，捕捉到了這只美洲豹的照片。這對情侶把相機固定在一棵靠近長頸鹿尸體的樹上，希望捕捉到食腐動物來吃下一頓飯的畫面。長頸鹿因一場“強烈”的雷暴而死。

Black Leopard Mountain Lodge/SWNS

The pictures are reportedly the first of a “strawberry” leopard eating in the wild, according to the Daily Mail.

據(jù)英國《每日郵報》報道，這張照片是第一次拍到野外用餐的美洲草莓豹。

“We thought we might get photos of blades of grass,” Alan told SWNS, explaining the shock of capturing the unusual creature on camera.

“我們原認為我們可能只會拍到草葉的照片。”艾倫告訴媒體，并描述了當(dāng)在相機上捕捉到這種不尋常生物時的震驚。

“As far as I know, this is the rarest color of leopard in the world. We hope she will bring new people to the lodge,” added Alan, owner of the Black Leopard Mountain Lodge located in the reserve.

“據(jù)我所知，這是世界上最稀有的豹紋顏色。我們希望她能把新人帶到這里來。”位于保護區(qū)的黑豹山小屋的主人艾倫補充說。

“A lot of people who come to spot wildlife in the area go away disappointed not to have seen a leopard. They are so well camouflaged and incredibly elusive. Even these ones, if they were going through the long grass, you wouldn’t see them,” he continued. “If she doesn’t want to be seen, you aren’t going to see her.”

“很多來這里觀察野生動物的人都因沒看到豹而失望的離開了。它們偽裝得很好，而且極其難以捉摸。即使是它們，如果它們穿過長草，你也看不到它們，”他繼續(xù)說。“如果她不想被人看見，你就不會看到她。”

Black Leopard Mountain Lodge/SWNS

The “strawberry” leopard was reportedly first discovered in 2012 when one was spotted near the border of Botswana, according to SWNS.

據(jù)SWNS報道，這只“草莓”豹最早是在2012年在博茨瓦納邊境附近發(fā)現(xiàn)的。

The cats are likely pink because of a genetic mutation called erythrism. The mutation, according to a 2013 National Geographic blog post, is caused by a recessive gene “similar to that which affects albino animals.”

這只“草莓”豹可能是粉紅色的，基于一種叫做赤蘚病的基因突變。根據(jù)2013年國家地理博客的一篇文章，這種變異是由一種“類似于白化病動物的隱性基因”引起的。

In this case, however, the mutation results when the animal overproduces red pigments or underproduces dark pigments.

在這種情況下，當(dāng)動物產(chǎn)生過多的紅色色素或產(chǎn)生不足的黑色色素時，就會產(chǎn)生突變。