BENGALURU: The elusive black leopard of BRT Tiger Reserve in Chamarajanagar district has resurfaced, bringing much cheer to conservationists.
The animal was first spotted in August 2020, and had disappeared. The melanistic cat has been captured in camera traps set by wildlife scientist Sanjay Gubbi and his team. According to forest officials, black leopards are largely seen in Kabini, Bandipur or Dandeli forests, along with similar documentation from neighbouring Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai forest.
"In 2020, a melanistic leopard was spotted in BRT reserve near Bylur range in our camera traps. A few months later, in December 2020, it was spotted again at PG Palya range in MM Hills sanctuary. Thereafter, there was no sighting ," an official said.
The leopard has now been identified by comparing the rosette patterns on its body. "It appears to be about six years old," said Gubbi, of Holematthi Nature Foundation in BRT reserve. "A narrow corridor of 1.6km connects BRT reserve with MM Hills sanctuary. Documentation of this leopard in both these protected areas highlights that the corridorneeds to be conserved."
Kollegal-Hasanur road (state highway-38) passes through this narrow corridor and vehicles pose a threat to wildlife and obstruct the movement of large mammals.
Black leopards, a melanistic variant of normal leopards, have now been documented in all five tiger reserves of Karnataka (Nagarahole, Bandipur, Bhadra, BRT, and Kali). They have also been documented in the adjoining Nugu wildlife sanctuary abutting Bandipur reserve.
Commonly called 'black panthers', they have been spotted outside protected areas, at Honnavar, Udupi and Kundapur. The highest density of them in the state is at Kali Tiger Reserve in Dandeli.
