Wildlife lovers in Odisha have got elated as the Forest Department informed that it spotted a black melanistic leopard.
Taking to his X handle, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Susanta Nanda said, “Ongoing camera trap tiger census in Odisha is throwing up some exciting and unexpected presence of wild fauna in our State.”
The PCCF, however, did not mention the exact location where the melanistic tiger was spotted.
Melanistic tigers are seen in the Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district. Odisha is the only state to have melanistic tigers, which are rarely found in the world.
A melanistic tiger had first been reported in Similipal in 1993. The first photographic evidence about the presence of a melanistic tiger was captured in 2007.
Melanistic refers to having very dark skin/hair due to higher-than-normal level of the pigment.