An exotic black tiger found in India | the Chronicle

Amateur photographer found a black tiger extremely rare and endangered in Odisha, India.

The man who captured the images of the animal is called Soumen Bajpayee. The last specimen of this species he was last seen in 2007 in the Simplipal Tiger Reserve.

The species, known as the melanistic tiger, only exists in the jungles of Odisha where, according to Dr Bivash Pandav, a wildlife expert and scientist at the Asian Country’s Wildlife Institute, said there are seven or eight creatures left with these characteristics in the nation.

Its rare coloring is the result of a genetic defect that narrows the space between the large black stripes, hiding the orange hair.

India is home to 70% of the world’s tiger population. In recent years, the number of specimens of these animals has dropped drastically.

Pandav also claimed that black tigers are “unique” in its genetic makeup: the reason for their wide stripes is believed to be due to enogamy.

These creatures are smaller than others of their kind and were first found in India in 1990.

They remain in Odisha due to the vastness of its forests and the variety of its habitat, but wildlife experts say poaching has affected the population of tigers, which are hunted for their bones, hooves, fur. and their mustaches.

The Odisha Forestry Department says the problem is not with the hunters, but the result of the increase in the number of human inhabitants. Urbanization reduces the space for these creatures to live and mate.