Rourkela: In a first, a Black Panther was spotted in Garjanpahad Reserve Forest of Hemagiri range under Sundargarh forest division on Monday.
“The footage of the Black Panther or melanistic leopard and its cub was captured in the camera installed in the forest. The camera shows the big cat roaming inside the forest about three to four times”, informed principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), wildlife and chief wildlife warden Sandeep Tripathy.
The melanistic leopards have also been found in eight other states-Kerala, Karnataka, Chhhattisgarh, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Odisha is the ninth state where this animal has been spotted for the first time, Tripathy added.
Although a Black Panther was spotted during the early 80’s in the forests of Phulbani, there was no photographic evidence regarding the same. However, this time, the video footage of the animal are with us, he further added.
