Foresters mulling plan to rehabilitate Black Panther
| Date :25-Jun-2019 |
Staff Reporter:
The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has come up with ambitious plan of rehabilitating Black Panther in State. The Forest Department has proposed to bring two pairs of panther from African countries after settling the project of lion at Kuno Palpur. According to forest officials, the proposal to bring Black Panther was sent to the ministry in the year 2016. After a few months of this proposal, lion project at Kuno Palpur became other issue to be addressed on priority basis.
“We are planning to bring two pairs of male and female panthers in MP for their rehabilitation but project is still pending because of lion at Kuno Palpur. We are making best efforts to bring lion at Kuno Palpur by the end of year 2018 and then next year Panther project would be started,” said Alok Kumar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF). He further informed that draft of the proposal was sent to the Government and expected budget was also proposed in detail. Alok Kumar informed that at present black panther is not present in India. Recently, news got viral that Black Panther was spotted and photographed for the first time in Punjab.
The panther spotted in Punjab, Chakdhallian village in Hoshiarpur district was a juvenile. It is assumed that Black Panther is not found in India. He said that there were a few panther in southern India but gradually it became rare species. Black Panther is colour variant of Indian leopards usually found in densely forested areas. Earlier, panthers were found in states of Karnataka, Kerala and Assam. Deepak Sankat, wildlife enthusiast said, Black Panther are same species as normal coloured Indian leopard with a high amount of pigment causing the animal to be very black or dark.
“If Government has proposed to bring the Black Panther and rehabilitate in Madhya Pradesh, then it would be a good news for the wildlife. There are proper environment and habitat for Black Panther in our State so the species should be here,” added Deepak Sankat. APCCF Alok Kumar said that exact forest area or reserve for rehabilitating the panther is yet to be decided as the project is pending. After getting final nod of National Tiger Conservation Authority of India (NTCA), Central Government and other authorities, the place would be decided. He said that a team of experts would be called from African countries to train the forest officials for managing these panthers. He further added, forest officials from Madhya Pradesh would also be sent to the African countries for making a study on Black Panther.