First In India: Wildlife Photographer Captures Leopard With Two Different Colored Eyes (Photo)

A photograph by Dhruv Patil of a leopard with two different colored eyes has gained the media spotlight as the first of its kind found in India. The tiger was photographed in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, leaving all, especially the wild enthusiasts, in awe of the Heterochromia iridium,  a very rare genetic mutation that causes each of the two eyes to have a different color. The variation in eye colours of leopard has been captivating and intriguing among the wildlife researchers.

In India, the phenomenon has not yet been recorded among the leopards. It was when photographer Patil was hosting a safari in the tiger reserve that he noticed the female leopard on a tree and clicked a picture of the big cat. When he zoomed in on the picture while at home, he observed that the leopard had one bluish-green and one brown eye.

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Speaking about the phenomenon, Patil said that it was incredible to document such rare mutations in such elusive creatures. Firstly, melanistic leopards like the black panther in Kabini, and now heterochromic leopards in Bandipu,” the photographer said, adding that it was truly incredible to witness Mother Nature’s marvels.

Patil had earlier captured a black panther with his camera at Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary near Mysuru. He has been a wildlife enthusiast and has reportedly spent more than 150 hours on a single road waiting for a glimpse of the elusive black panther and capturing it with his camera in a national forest in Karnataka.

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Patil is also a member of the Karnataka State Wildlife Board. He started his wildlife journey in 2013 and has explored the jungles of Africa and America. He also founded the Society for Protection of Animals and Plants in 2011, which now has an active volunteer base of about 10,000. He has adopted animals and has many birds in his home.

Taking to X, the renewed climate enthusiast and IAS officer, Supriya Sahu, in a post on X, wrote, “Beware! The eyes of this leopard will hypnotize you. In the first documentation of its kind in India, a leopard with two different colored eyes has been photographed in Bandipur Tiger Reserve by Dhruv Patil. How incredible! Heterochromia iridium is a very rare genetic mutation that causes each of the two eyes to have a different color.”

Beware ! The eyes of this leapord will hypnotise you. In a first documentation of its kind in India, a leopard with two different coloured eyes has been photographed in Bandipur Tiger Reserve by Dhruv Patil. How incredible ! Heterochromia Iridium is a very rare genetic mutation… pic.twitter.com/cR1i9VAa6u

— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) August 3, 2024