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Many people call these cats black panthers, but there's really no such animal. "Panther" is a generic word used to describe large cats, especially black ones, but the term tends also to apply to black Pumas and Jaguars. Leopards and Jaguars are the most common “black cats”, they are often born in the same litter as the normal coloured cats, because the black colour, called melanism, is due to a recessive gene. So black cubs can be born to two spotted parents. The cats are actually dark brown, with the same pattern of black spots as any other leopard. There are no solid black big cats. Black leopards tend to be found more in rain forests and mountainous areas where their dark coat acts as better camouflage. They are particularly common in Asia on the Malayan Peninsula where a very large percentage of the known leopards are black.

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