Spy Cameras fail to see the hidden spots of the Black Panthers

Of all the big cats, the leopard is by far the most widespread of all. They are famous for their spots, but some individuals have a mutation, melanism, which dyed black, panthers. For years already elusiveness of these coupled with the inability to distinguish some people from others because they do not show stains, unique to each individual has greatly hampered their study and conservation animals. But now, thanks to a new technique, a team of scientists has managed to see his spots. In order to differentiate them, count them and, ultimately, protect them.

Virtually all of the Malay Peninsula leopards are black, it is unique inside and outside cats for which it does not yet have a scientific explanation. By studying this population and photograph Panthers night, they surprised the researchers found that infrared light flash camera traps (which can also be activated during the day) you can clearly see the spots of the skin of the animal, under the thick layer of black hair.

"We found that we could accurately identify 94% of the animals, this will allow us to study and monitor this population over time, which is critical for conservation," says Hedges.

This research, that Laurie Hedges led at the University of Nottingham (UNMC, its acronym in English), and published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, it highlights the importance of camera traps in the study of animals and ecosystems that would otherwise hardly they could address.

"We found that we could accurately identify 94% of the animals, this will allow us to study and monitor this population over time, which is critical for conservation," says Hedges. Skins and Panthers limbs and ears, teeth and skulls are increasingly common in the major markets of wildlife in Asia, in Malaysia and in other regions, especially on the border of Myanmar and China . To identify all possible trap individuals with cameras in their habitat and specimens victims of smuggling, scientists and conservationists are not only closer to the behavior of these animals, but also that of their hunters and black market behind them.