Black Leopard near Kolhapur

Ashwin Aghor

Amidst reports of habitat destruction causing extinction of many species, environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts have a reason to rejoice. Two trekkers have claimed to have seen a black leopard in Sindhudurg district. And this is for the first time since 1942, that black leopard was seen in the region.
Sachin Kondekar and Abhijit Yadav, from Kolhapur had gone to Manohar Mansantosh, the twin forts between Amboli and Padgaon on June 3. “While we were following a regular trail, both of us noticed movement of a strange animal at around 7.45 am on the hill nearby,” said Kondekar. Initially, both of them were confused about the creature climbing down the hill. “After a closer look from binoculars, we both were thrilled to know that it was indeed a black leopard,” Kondekar said.
Regular trekkers, Yadav and Kondekar have encountered many wild animals like bison, antelopes and even snakes, in the forests of Kolhapur district. “But, this time we were lucky to see a black leopard, which was last seen 67 years back. Infact, the last black leopard seen in the region was hunted by Chhatrapati Rajaram in the forests of Radhanagri Dajipur in 1942,” Kondekar said. The stuffed trophy of the animal is currently on display at New Palace belonging to the royal family of Kolhapur.
The conservator of forests (wildlife), Kolhapur MK Rao confirmed the report. “There were reports of black leopard sighting from the area around Amboli and Padgaon. But till date we did not have any evidence. Though the pictures of the animal are taken from very long distance, from the characteristics of the animal visible in the image, we can very well ascertain that it is a black leopard,” Rao said. He said that there were reports of black leopard sighting near Tilhari Dam in Chandgad taluka in 1985. But the same could not be confirmed as there was no concrete evidence, he added.
According to naturalist Sunjoy Monga, there are records of presence of black leopards in the forests of Dandeli on Karnataka-Maharashtra border. “It is a melanistic form which is found in high density forests of Western Ghats and north India,” Monga said. Environmental designer Vibhas Amonkar had seen black leopard near Mahabaleshwar in 2002. “It was during one of my trips to Mahabaleshwar to prepare development master plan for the town. I encountered black leopard while on walk,” Amonkar said.

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Melanism is an increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation of skin, feathers or hair, resulting from presence of melanin. More technically, it refers to a phenotype in which the pigmentation of an organism is entirely, or nearly entirely, expressed. Melanism is often the result of genetic mutation, but can result from other stimuli, such as exposure to abnormal temperature changes during gestation which transiently alter gene transcript. Melanism has been shown to occur in a variety of animals, including mammals like squirrels and many felines, reptiles like coral snakes and insects like peppered moth.
Melanism among felines is due to changes in the agouti gene which controls banding of black and light areas on the hair shaft. Leopards and jaguars with this condition are often called black panther. One good example of melanism expressed within a certain animal community is that of the leopard population in Malaysia, South East Asia, in which case up to 50% of the population has melanism. That is apparently due to them being more cryptic in their dusky rainforest habitat. In the leopard, melanism is due to a recessive gene mutation meaning that two spotted leopards carrying the gene may produce black cubs, but black leopards will breed true when mated together.