Indian forest officer captures black panther on camera, netizens get their 'Bagheera'

A video of a rare black panther, shared by a forest officer, has gone viral on social media, sparking widespread discussion among netizens. The big cat was captured on camera in the Kurseong forest of West Bengal. The creature's beauty in its wild habitat is so captivating that many have naturally dubbed it 'Bagheera,' the enigmatic character from Rudyard Kipling's classic novel, "The Jungle Book."

The video of the animal was shared by Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan on X (formerly Twitter), exciting thousands. The short clip shows the creature strolling across a road, pausing in the undergrowth, showing slight restlessness upon being noticed by people approaching in a vehicle, and then disappearing back into the woods. He captioned the post, "This black Panther from North Bengal. Bagheera of Kurseong. What a beauty."

Kaswan further described the animal in accompanying notes. He wrote that black panthers inhabit forests in Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, and parts of Northeast India. He emphasized their crucial role as apex predators in maintaining the balance of their ecosystems.

Black panthers are not a separate species. They are melanistic (excessively pigmented) leopards or jaguars. Their typical rosettes are present but only visible up close due to their black colouration.

Social media users praised the forest officer's rare discovery, with many thanking Kaswan for sharing the video on X. Camera trap records indicate that melanistic leopards are most commonly found in tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Bagheera has been trending on Google for the past two days.