Happy to see and share that yet another article of mine on Black Panthers has been published in todays Vijayavani, one of the leading newspapers in Karnataka State. The article provides a detailed behavioral patterns of these cats (Melanstic leopards), their allele and inheritance history. It also covers their habitats and overview of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve where the density is found quite high. For those who wouldnt read kannada heres is a brief translation of the article... Black panthers are mostly mistaken to be a different species. So what a Black Panther? Melanistic leopard are commonly called as Black Panthers, this term also applies to melanistic Jaguars. Leopard is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List because it is declining in large parts of its range due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and hunting for trade. These cats are elusive, very shy in nature and sighting of black panthers are very rare. The black panthers are found in dense tropical rain forest, where the sunlight is low. And thought behind this is that the dark coloration acts as better camouflage in low sunlight conditions of the forest floor. These cats normally hunt on chital, black naped hare, langurs, mouse deers and there have been records of black panthers hunting on a porcupine. Close examination of the color of the black panthers will show that the typical markings known as rosettes or spots are still present, but are hidden by the excess black pigment, giving an effect similar to that of printed silk. The color variant in black panthers (Melanistic leopards) occur mainly due to recessive allele, this means heritable characteristics are controlled by genes which are expressed in offspring only when inherited from both parents. While in Melanistic Jaguars this occurs due to dominant allele that is by a single dominant male. The theory behind the melanistic cats is quite complex and researchers are still working on the reproduction cycle of melanism. Records have shown that normal male leopard courting (mating) with black leopard produce offspring with combination of both normal leopards and melanistic leopards or both black leopards but there is no possibility of the two being born as normal leopards. Finally article covers about my work and contribution towards Wildlife & Tiger Conservation, my achievements in form of various Wildlife Photography awards that includes international recognition from BBC and last but not the least about my publication in various magazines like Sanctuary Asia, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Saevus, Green Leaf, Chitralakha to name a few... Thanks to Oumkar Umesh - Senior Journalist for covering this so nicely.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 07:12:52 +0000
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