While I left the movie with more questions than answers, the styling and costumes were beautiful. Erik Killmonger (the rival panther) had a textured costume that was black but had the spots to resemble a leopard. I knew black panthers had spots, they are just black on black and hard to see. (Kind of like how all cats are tabbys.)
Erik Killmonger Black Panther costume. You can see that cat fur pattern, even though it's textured.
A real black panther with beautiful detailed spots.
The movie got me thinking about our large wild cats and specifically...panthers. Anyone that knows me, knows I don't know my animals ~ I grew up in the city. I know cats, dogs, and fish and that's about it. I camped maybe once and it was a horrible experience. I'm not what you would call "outdoor-sy". The closest thing I get to loving the outdoors is sitting on a patio sipping a mai-tai.
So I decided to put together some panther facts, afterall they are the cousins of our domestic cats right? Goodness knows, I didn't know half this stuff, so maybe you may learn something along with me...
~ The word "panther" refers to three kinds of cat: Cougar, Jaguar, and Leopard.
~ Melanism is the dark color pigmentation that causes the fur to be black. Albinism is the opposite and can be found in snow leopards.
~ They are less fertile than other large cats and more aggressive.
~ They are great swimmers and strong tree climbers. They often hunt from trees.
~ They can leap 20 feet.
~ They have excellent hearing and eyesight.
~ Their color, naturally camouflages them at night, so they can hunt.
~ They can adapt to different climates, that's why they have survived even though their habitats are getting destroyed.
Does your black cat think he's a black panther?
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