Odisha Forest dept clueless about black leopard sighted 5 years ago

Priya Ranjan Swain Published On : Dec 13, 2023 at 5:03 PM

Bhubaneswar: The Forest department has no information regarding a black leopard sighted in Garjanpahad reserve forest in Odisha’s Sundargarh district five years ago.

However, the department has recently revealed the presence of a black or melanistic leopard in a forest in central Odisha.

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The Wildlife wing of Forest department in Odisha had confirmed the presence of a black leopard in Garjanpahad reserve forest under Hemgiri range in 2018.

The department then claimed that the melanistic leopard had been captured in a camera trap several times. It had announced that it was the first-ever footage of a black leopard in Odisha.

Since then, the Forest department has not informed anything regarding the melanistic leopard.

“The Forest department had confirmed the presence of a black leopard in Garjanpahad forest in Sundargarh five years ago. But, they have not revealed anything on the feline animal since then. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Susanta Nanda has recently revealed that a black leopard has been captured in camera trap in a forest in Odisha during the ongoing tiger census in the state. However, the PCCF did not disclose anything regarding the forest from where the department has collected the footage,” said a wildlife enthusiast.

Now, the wildlife lovers in Odisha are quite apprehensive regarding the black leopard spotted in Sundargarh in 2018. There were reports that the melanistic leopard along with two cubs had been found roaming in Garjanpahad forest two years ago. However, the Forest department did not give any updates on the big cat, he added.

Sundargarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Pradeep Mirase said the department has no information regarding the black leopard spotted in Garjanpahad forest five years ago.

“We have installed several camera traps at Garjanpahad forest to trace the black leopard. A black leopard has been sighted in Odisha during the ongoing tiger census. We are trying to know details about the recently spotted melanistic leopard,” added the DFO.