Belgian family was lucky enough to spot melanistic leopard in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, the first such sighting in central India of an animal usually found in south Indian forests
Juliet Decaestecker took a few pictures of the black panther before it slunk away into the woods
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While T'challa remains in Wakanda, the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) now has its own black panther. A family from Belgium visiting the reserve were lucky enough to spot a melanistic leopard or black panther — an animal usually spotted only in the Konkan region, Goa, and Kabini in Karnataka. This is the first time the animal has been
photographed in the central India landscape.
During an evening safari on Tuesday, a group of eight people — naturalist Swarna Chakrabarty from the Svara Jungle Lodge, tourist guide Shalik, guests Juliet Decaestecker and her husband along with their three kids, and the safari jeep driver — were surprised to spot the black beauty. While the majority of the tourists go to TATR to see tigers, the Belgian group was the only lucky one to see a black panther at the Shivanjari waterhole.
(From right) Naturalist Swarna Chakrabarty accompanied Juliet Decaestecker and her family, along with the safari driver and guide
Bagheera in the flesh
Chakrabarty said, "On Tuesday, we were on the evening safari near Pangdi in the Kolsa range. After spotting the tigers, we decided to take the guests to the Shivanjhari waterhole to try our luck at spotting the famous Shivanjhari tigress and her cubs. Around 6.10 pm, we saw a creature drinking from the waterhole. Our guide told us it was an Asian Palm Civet, but the size was much bigger, and even the tail was huge. I scanned the area with my binoculars and was left speechless when I saw it was a melanistic leopard."
Decaestecker clicked a few pictures of the black panther before it slunk away into the woods. Late on Tuesday night, the pictures were posted on Facebook and they quickly went viral on WhatsApp groups and social networking sites. "The sighting of the black panther in the central India landscape is very interesting, because usually it is found in south Indian forests. The sighting of this magnificent cat will boost the wildlife conservation and protection efforts in the forest," added Chakrabarty. A black panther sighting had been reported from TATR in 2014 as well, by a researcher working with the Wildlife Institute of India.
Officialspeak
Mukul Trivedi, field director of TATR and chief conservator of forest (CCF), said, "Fortunately, our camera traps were also installed near the watering hole. When our team checked the camera trap, we saw the images of an animal that looks like a melanistic leopard."
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