Bhubaneswar, November 30: An extremely rare black leopard has been spotted in a forest in Odisha during the ongoing tiger census in the state, a senior official said. The leopard's images were captured in a camera trap installed in the forest for the tiger census, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), wildlife, Susanta Nanda said.

Nanda shared on X two images of the leopard but did not disclose the location for the safety of the rare wild animal. "Ongoing camera trap tiger census in Odisha is throwing up some exciting & unexpected presence of wild fauna in our state," Nanda posted on X. Tiger Population in India: Annual Tiger Census in West Bengal's Sunderbans to Begin from November 27.

Rare Black Leopard Spotted in Odisha

Earlier, a black tiger or pseudo-melanistic tiger was sighted in Similipal National Park in Mayurbhanj district.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)