An amateur photographer from Odisha, India, was lucky enough to stumble across a super rare black tiger last week.
Soumen Bajpayee, the photographer, managed to capture the magnificent creature in a series of amazing photos.

This black tiger is just one of six that are thought to exist in the whole world!
They are only found in the jungles of Odisha in India and are on the verge of extinction.

The black tigers are actually smaller than traditional Bengal tigers and tend not to survive for as long in the wild due to their color, causing them a lack of camouflage.
Bajpayee, a 27-year-old student of Masters in Technology from Kolkata in West Bengal, was on a visit to the sanctuary when he saw the tiger, having been watching birds and monkeys.

He said: “I was surprised and felt fortunate to have seen the tiger.”
“I was watching various birds and monkeys in the trees when I suddenly saw something which looked like a tiger but not like a usual tiger. Back then I didn’t have any idea about Melanistic Tigers.”

“Then suddenly it appeared from the woods, stayed for few seconds and walked back behind the trees.”