Two black leopards spotted in Odisha forests

News Excerpt:

Through video traps deployed for the ongoing tiger census, Odisha forest officials discovered two black leopards, or melanistic leopards in two separate jungle locales.

  • A black panther has darkish brown (or black) fur with black rosettes and is sometimes visible under favorable light conditions
    • These panthers or melanistic leopards are therefore not a separate species, but a form of melanism.
  • A melanistic tiger is located in Similipal Tiger Reserve in the Mayurbhanj district.
  • They blend into the shadows and are practically undetectable in the dark.

Leopards and their characteristics:

  • Indian landscape is dominated by the Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) and the black version is also of the same species. 
  • Besides India, Panthera pardus fusca is also found in Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of Pakistan. 
  • Black leopards are found more in regions with the highest rainfall and dense foliage. 
    • Most of the records about the existence of black leopards in India have been from North East India and Western Ghats.
  • Male leopards are bigger than female leopards. 
  • A male usually weighs between 50kgs to 80kgs while a female is typically between 29kgs to 35kgs. 
  • Leopards have strong legs, which help them climb trees, and big boulders, and their long tails help them balance themselves on the branches while chasing monkeys up in the trees.
  • Leopards can be quite adaptive to most of the regions. They are found in all kinds of forests – rainforests, deciduous forests, and alpine coniferous forests
  • They are also found in semi-arid regions, some parts of the desert, and dry scrub grasslands
  • Leopards have also started to familiarize themselves with the fringes of popular metro cities and agricultural fields.

There are a total 9 subspecies of leopards found in the world:

  • African Leopard (Panthera pardus pardus)
  • North China Leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis)
  • Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)
  • Sri Lankan Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya)
  • Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca)
  • Javan Leopard (Panthera pardus melas)
  • Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr)
  • Indochinese Leopard (Panthera pardus delacouri)
  • Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis)

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