You might be surprised to know that a Black Panther is not a species in itself but rather a term used to describe black leopards or black jaguars. If you already knew that then well done, gold star for you!

The dark fur comes from a pigment called melanin and it’s likely that if a Black Panther cub is born from leopard parents, one of those parents will also have had this pigment. However, this isn’t as likely with jaguars. If you look incredibly closely at a Black Panther of the leopard variety, you can still see its dark spots against its soft, black fur. However, we wouldn’t recommend getting close enough to check. These are big cats, people. They will take your face off!