Rare black Panther spotted in Odisha's Sundergarh forest: See Pics

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BHUBANESWAR: In a first, a black panther has been spotted in Odisha's Sundergarh forest, the Forest Department said.

The panther which is known as melanistic leopard was caught on camera while roaming in the forest, said H K Bist, Chief Conservator of Forest, Wild Life.

The camera trap was installed at the Garjanpahad Reserve Forest under Hemgir in Sundargarh Forest Division, and the footage was captured a week ago, Odisha's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife Sandeep Tripathi informed.

Odisha is the ninth state where a black panther has been reported, Bist said.

Melanistic leopards are also found in other states such as Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Black Panthers were reportedly spotted in Phulbani and Simlipal forests of Odisha some 20 years back. However, there is no evidence due to the absence of camera traps.

The camera was installed in the forest in 2015 following information about the animal by locals and forest dwellers to the forest department, the officer said.

It is a remotely activated camera that is equipped with a motion sensor or an infrared sensor, or uses a light beam as a trigger to capture wild animals on film when researchers are not present.

Tripathi said that Odisha is the only state in the country to have melanistic tigers, white tigers and now black panthers.

Melanistic tigers have thick and darker stripes and are rarely found globally in the wild or in the zoo.

The melanistic tiger was first reported in Similipal forest in 1993. The first photographic evidence about its presence was captured in 2007, Tripathi added.

(With inputs from PTI)