Rare Black Panther spotted casually chilling on forest road in India

Rare Black Panther spotted casually chilling on forest road in India

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Oct 30, 2020:     A rare black panther was spotted around a mountain forest in India recently. The video, filmed at a location, undisclosed is being widely shared on social media. Parveen Kaswan of the Indian Forest Services posted a short video featuring the animal. The wild cat, in the undated clip, is seen roaming adjacent to a road somewhere in a forest. The video was seemingly captured from inside a vehicle by tourists as it approached the panther.

 

As seen in the video, the black panther, at first, turns to gaze at the jeep wherein the people recording it were stationed. Thereafter, it took a few steps before stopping again. Next, the animal is seen walking across the narrow strip and finally running away and disappearing into the woods. Parveen Kaswan withheld the exact location wherein the Black Panther was spotted, possibly to prevent poachers from tracking down the spot. The clip in question, shared by Kaswan, mentioned it was forwarded to him by the forest staff.

"The black panther of India. Location will not be revealed. Forwarded by staff," wrote IFS officer Kaswan while sharing the video in the caption of the post.

The recorded footage, which was tweeted on October 24, has collected over a million views since being made available on the site.

In the comments section, under the post on the microblogging platform, Kaswan added, "The idea is not to reveal exact location. Otherwise people are aware about where this animal is found. There are number of PAs in India where black panther is present."

Black panthers, a variant of spotted leopards, are found around Asia and Africa. In India, they are spotted in protected forests around several Southern states of India. According to the National Geographic, the term is an umbrella that applies to 14 species of wildcat, commonly to melanistic leopards.

 

The black panther of India. Location will not be revealed. Forwarded by staff. pic.twitter.com/q2fXW8Et3e

— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) October 24, 2020