Bhubaneswar: A black leopard has been sighted in a reserve forest in Odisha’s Sundargarh district.
According to sources, the trap cameras installed by the Forest department in Garjan hill of Dhanu Baunsa reserve forest in the district have captured the black leopard moving in the area.
Confirming the black leopard, Sundargarh ACF Sanjib Panda said the pictures of the melanistic leopard have been captured in one of 25 trap cameras installed in the reserve forest.
The Forest department had installed the trap cameras in the reserve forests as part of the tiger census in 2023.
While the census was going on, a black leopard was sighted in one of the forests. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Susanta Nanda had posted in X (formerly Twitter) on November 29, 2023 about sighting of the wild animal.
Though the PCCF did not disclose the forest where the black or melanistic leopard was spotted, he had said there was nothing unusual in the sighting of melanistic leopard in Odisha. The hide of the leopard has turned black due to excess pigmentation, he added.
