Black panther spotted for first time in Odisha forest in 2018 captured on camera again

Priya Ranjan Swain Published On : Mar 13, 2024 at 7:13 PM

Bhubaneswar: Putting all apprehensions regarding a black panther spotted in Odisha’s Sundargarh district six years ago to rest, the Forest department claimed that the animal has been recaptured in camera trap recently.

Wildlife enthusiasts had raised concern over the safety of the black panther as the Forest department did not divulge anything more on the animal after announcing its presence in Garjanpahad reserve forest under Hemgiri range in Sundargarh in 2018.

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Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Susanta Nanda claimed that the black leopard (panther), which was first spotted in Garjanpahad reserve forest in 2018, has been recaptured in camera trap recently.

“This ghost of the forest was first captured in 2018 in Sundargarh. Heartening to inform that it was again recaptured in camera trap recently, putting rest to all speculations that was raised by a few in public domain,” said the PCCF (Wildlife) in a Twitter (X) post while sharing an image of the black leopard yesterday.

This ghost of the forest was first captured in 2018 in Sundergarh. Heartening to inform that it was again recaptured in camera trap recently, putting to rest all the speculations that was raised by few in public domain. pic.twitter.com/FfvkJgTurT

— Susanta Nanda (@susantananda3) March 12, 2024

Notably, the Wildlife wing of Forest department in Odisha had confirmed the presence of the black panther in Garjanpahad reserve forest after the big cat was captured in camera traps several times in 2018.

The department had then claimed that it was the first-ever footage of a black leopard in Odisha.

However, the Forest department did not divulge anything regarding the melanistic leopard in last six years.

A few months ago, Sundargarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Pradeep Mirase had said the department has no information regarding the black leopard spotted in Garjanpahad forest in 2018.

He had further revealed that the Forest department has installed several camera traps at Garjanpahad to trace the black leopard.