Speeding train kills black panther in Karnataka’s Udupi

Black Panthers are elusive cats and can be found in Karnataka. Though there are no official figures, black panthers account for around 4-5% of the state’s leopard popu

A black-coated leopard (Panthera Pardus), commonly known as Black Panther, was killed in the early hours of Tuesday after a speeding train hit it in Karnataka’s Udupi, about 400 km from Bengaluru.

Representational Image.

“The incident occurred near Badakere in Kundapura forest range. The animal died after it was hit by a train [Mangala Express] around 2 am,” a forest official from the range said. The animal was four or five-year-old, the official added.

Black Panthers are elusive cats and can be found in Karnataka. Though there are no official figures, black panthers account for around 4-5% of the state’s leopard population, the official said.

Environmentalists hit out at the government’s plans to double railway lines in the eco-sensitive and fragile western ghats region. “Despite frequent deaths of leopards, elephants, guars, deers, reptiles, birds...the government is hell bent on railway line doubling in pristine, evergreen Western Ghats,” Joseph Hoover, an environmentalist posted on Facebook after the incident.

He added there is an existing railway line to the neighbouring Goa, but the government is looking to add another despite the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Karnataka Forest Department’s opposition to “economically unsustainable and environmentally destructive project”.

The shrinking spaces for wildlife due to rapid urbanisation and encroachment of forest land and development activity has increased human-animal conflicts in Karnataka.

A leopard was sighted in a residential apartment complex in Bengaluru until it was caught on Monday.