The legend of Khymara - Saaya
The dark lord mysteriously appeared in the forests of Kabini in 2013. Without origin, he decided to make Kabini his kingdom. His melanism, a recessive gene that made his hair pigment more black, meant he was all the more elusive. Using shadows to prowl amidst the South Indian forests, he rightfully earned his name, Saaya - 'shadow'.
Over the course of 8 years, I have seen this mystical beast just once. After relentlessly spending 5 years and 128 safaris from 2015 - 2020 in the woods of Khymara and Baraballe, the panther's territory. In November 2020, the cackle of a Langur on a green winter morning led us down the road of Baraballe. There on the road, a living shadow walked. My first time witnessing the first and only documented black panther in the wild.
