Black Tiger
Parveen Kaswan, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) official, recently shared images of “pseudo-melanistic” tigers found in Simlipal, Odisha, on X (previously Twitter). Kaswan is known for sharing interesting facts about wildlife. He shared the amazing pictures of this amazing black tiger on Friday, along with information about its origins and scarcity. Notably, only in Odisha exist melanistic tigers, a rare gene pool on which the black stripes are much more apparent than those of Royal Bengal tigers. Because of their intricate and dark stripe patterns, they are frequently referred to as “black tigers.”
Black Tigers of India
“The black tigers of #India. Do you know there are pseudo- melanistic tigers found in Simlipal. They are such due to genetic mutation & highly rare. Such beautiful creature,” Mr Kaswan wrote on X.
The black tigers of #India. Do you know there are pseudo- melanistic tigers found in Simlipal. They are such due to genetic mutation & highly rare. Such beautiful creature. pic.twitter.com/X1TEw8r1cD
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) December 22, 2023
The IFS officer also gave a brief overview of the history of “pseudo-melanistic” tigers in Similipal in the tweet that followed. He pointed out that the earliest known account goes back to 1993, when a little child from Pdagad village used arrows to shoot a “black” tigress to death out of self-defense. He added that these tigers had not been formally found inside the reserve until 2007, which started a string of verified sightings.
“The first confirmed record of the now famous pseudo-melanistic tigers of Similipal came in 1993. On 21st July 1993 Salku, a young boy of Podagad village shot down a ‘black’ tigress with arrows in self-defense. The rare tigers were first officially discovered in STR in 2007. With time more were documented. They are due to rare genetic mutation and found in small population,” Mr Kaswan wrote.
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Details on post
Just one day after the IFS Officer shared the post, it has received over 4,000 likes and over 147,000 views. It even sparked a lot of responses from X users. Some thought the pictures were outstanding, while others thought they were gorgeous.
“Nature is amazing. Amazing creatures,” wrote one user. “Wow. All their stripes ran together like ink. Very interesting & beautiful,” commented another.
“What a sight! Hope we will be able to conserve this amazing wildlife forever,” added a third. “You are so lucky to be with such lovely creations of nature and God,” expressed another. In the meantime, Mr. Kaswan’s tweet follows Ashiwini Kumar Choubey, the Union Minister of State for Environment, telling the Rajya Sabha that there are ten “black tigers” in India, all of which are found only in Similipal, Odisha. Ten of the 16 tigers in the Similipal Tiger Reserve exhibit melanism, according to the 2022 cycle of the pan-India tiger estimating exercise, he added.
