Very unlikely. There was a good discussion here a few years ago about whether or not there are any melanistic leopards found in Africa, let alone in zoos.
The original black leopards at Jungleworld were siblings that came from a Polish zoo. That was more than 20 years ago, so these are almost certainly from another source, but I would be greatly surprised if they were anything other than "generic" leopards of Asian descent.
The original black leopards at Jungleworld were siblings that came from a Polish zoo. That was more than 20 years ago, so these are almost certainly from another source, but I would be greatly surprised if they were anything other than "generic" leopards of Asian descent.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the information. It was very useful. So would you be saying that there are more melanistic leopards from asian descent then african?
I've seen the leopards at Naples and while its not impossible that these are pure-bred African I don't think they are - probably generic 'zoo' animals with some african in them.
@Matthew Guimac think the last one died around 2018. Currently an Amur leopard lives in that habitat despite the biogeographic inaccuracy of this (doubtless because they’re the only subspecies with an AZA program in the US).
