It is always fascinating to watch videos that show wild animals in their natural habitat. It becomes all the more exciting if the video features a rare animal. A perfect example of that was shared by Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda on X. On Sunday morning, Mr Nanda who often shares wildlife videos, shared a short clip of a family of pseudo-melanistic tigers spotted in the forests of Odisha.
Notably, the melanistic tigers – a rare gene pool on which the black stripes are far more prominent than the Royal Bengal Tiger’s – are found only in Odisha. They are often referred to as ‘black tigers’ due to their dense and dark stripe patterns.
”Nature never fails to surprise us. This is one of the rarest of the rare… A complete Pseudo melanistic tiger family from the forests of Odisha,” the video was captioned. In the video, four
Watch the video here:
Nature never fails to surprise us. This is one of the rarest of the rare…
A complete Pseudo melanistic tiger family from the forests of Odisha? pic.twitter.com/SQx6dQo3sD
— Susanta Nanda (@susantananda3) January 7, 2024
This rare tiger was captured on a camera trap, a device used to monitor wildlife populations and behaviour. According to WWF, a camera trap is simply a digital camera connected to an infrared sensor, which can see objects that are moving, like animals. They are meant to obtain critical data about wildlife and their habitats, species location, population sizes, and how species are interacting.
Internet users were thrilled to see the video and expressed their delight in the comments section. One user wrote, ”Great news Sir! Must be of Similipal Tiger Reserve.”
Another commented, ”It would be a treat to the eyes to spot them at their own habitat.”
A third said, ”Wow! This is unbelievable! How cool! I can’t believe my eyes!”
A fourth wrote, ”Wow…four pseudo melanistic tigers at a single camera trap at a same place and same time.”
A fifth added, ”Really amazing. Great sight to remember. A rare observation.”
Mr. Nanda’s post comes after the Union Minister of State for Environment, Ashiwini Kumar Choubey, told the Rajya Sabha that there are a total of 10 “black tigers” in India, all exclusively found in Odisha’s Similipal. As per the 2022 cycle of the pan-India tiger estimation exercise, the Similipal Tiger Reserve has 16 tigers, out of which 10 exhibit melanism, he said.
A few days back, Parveen Kaswan, another Indian Forest Service (IFS) also shared captivating images of this extraordinary tiger, along with details on its rarity and origins.
