...only around 250 left in the wild worldwideSurabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - There are only about 7-10 Javanese leopards (Panthera pardus melas) remaining in Baluran National Park in Situbondo, East Java, according to a photographer.
"I took the photograph of a Javanese leopard on February 18, 2012, and it was the first ever picture taken after 22 years," Nurdin Razak, a wildlife photographer from Gresik, stated here on Thursday.
He said the photo of the Javanese leopard would be featured in "Surabaya Wildlife Photo Exhibition" at the House of Sampoerna from May 26 to June 17.
The academician from Airlangga University school of tourism explained he encountered the Javanese leopard at dawn on Saturday on February 18 and later managed to take its picture at night while traveling with a ranger in a car.
He noted the Javanese leopard was an endangered species because there were only around 250 left in the wild worldwide and just about 7-10 in Baluran National Park.
The wildlife photographer, who has covered 33 national parks in Java and Bali, said the leopard whose picture he had taken was 1.8 metres long from head to tail.
"I think the animal was about two and a half years old when I spotted it at the Baluran evergreen area, some 4.7 km east of Bekol in Situbondo," Nurdin added.
(O001)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
