Black Leopard Found In Adam’s Peak A Natural Adaptation

Research

The black leopard found in the wilds of the Adam’s Peak recently is not a different species, but it is due to melanism, the Department of Wildlife Conservation says. Department’s Publicity Officer, Hasini Sarathchandra told The Earthlanka that it was definitely not a different species but a colour variation. ‘We found similar type of a leopard in Sinharaja World Heritage Forest sometime back. However, the Department would continue with ongoing research programmes to find whether there were other species in the cat family or species closely related to our leopard species -Panthera pardus kotiya.

According to renowned scientist, cat expert, Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala, black and spotted leopards: Are they different species? The short answer is no.  Quoting directly an extract about black panthers by Cat expert Dr. John Seidensticker and Dr. Susan Lumpkin, she points out that ‘Everyone has heard of a black panther, which in reality, is just a leopard with black background fur, which obscures the cat’s spots.  It is not a separate species;   in fact, black furred and spotted cubs can be siblings born of the same litter. Known as melanism, black fur in leopards and domestic cats is the result of a single recessive gene for coat colour, whereas in jaguars it results from a single dominant gene.  Melanistic or black individuals appear in many, if not all species [of wild cats] but do so frequently among leopards, jaguars, margays, ocelots.’ “So the ‘Black panther’ is a misnomer. It is not a separate species of leopard.  It is not a separate sub-species of leopard.”

Of the eight species of panthers living in the world, the sub-species, Sri Lankan Panther is extraordinary due to its very limited population.

The recent investigation headed by Dr. Malaka Abeywardene and Dr. Manoj Akalanka of the Wildlife Department, while technical support for the process was provided by the Tropical Eco-System Research Network Organization.

According to Dr. Malaka Abeywardene: “The reason for these animals being black is mainly an adaptation for hunting purposes and for protection of their kind since they mostly roam in cold and dark places. We request the general public to come forward to protect these animals since they are an important gift given by Mother Nature”

DWC Director General M G C Sooriyabandara said that reports claiming the panther is of an extinct species were false.

“It is not a species different from the Sri Lankan leopard. The animal has got black fur due to a colour variation and there is nothing really unusual about it. There were many reports circulating in the media that it’s of an extinct species that’s been rediscovered. This is not true, since [species of the panther genus] have a long lifespan and therefore it is not possible a species to go extinct and be found again within a short period of time,” he said.

“It is not scientifically proven that these panthers had gone extinct,” he added.

The country’s premier organisation engaged in wildlife protection, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) simply explained that ‘black panther’ was a misnomer.

“Everyone has heard of a black panther, which in reality, is just a leopard with black background fur, which obscures the cat’s spots. It is not a separate species; in fact, black-furred and spotted cubs can be siblings born of the same litter. Known as melanism, black fur in leopards and domestic cats is the result of a single recessive gene for coat colour, whereas in jaguars it results from a single dominant gene.

“Melanistic or black individuals appear in many if not all species [of wild cats] but do so frequently among leopards, jaguars, margays, ocelots. So the ‘Black Panther’ is a misnomer. It is not a separate species of leopard. It is not a separate subspecies of leopard,” WPNS said.