Rare tiger filmed
- A rare melanistic (black) tiger was filmed in Similipal National Park in India and posted on social platforms. (x.com) - The clip drew roughly 191,000 views and about 1,500 likes on the original post. (x.com) - The viral footage drew heavy online attention from wildlife watchers and conservation communities. (x.com)
A rare black tiger from India’s Similipal landscape has resurfaced in viral video, putting one of the world’s strangest tiger populations back in public view. (x.com) The clip was posted on X by the account Science Girl, where it had about 191,000 views and roughly 1,500 likes by April 23, 2026. The animal shown is from Similipal in Odisha, the only place where melanistic tigers have been officially recorded in the wild. (x.com) (pib.gov.in) These animals are not solid black like a black panther. Scientists describe them as “pseudomelanistic” Bengal tigers, with unusually broad dark stripes that compress the orange coat into narrow bands. (news.ncbs.res.in) (roundglasssustain.com) Researchers at the National Centre for Biological Sciences linked that coat pattern to a mutation in the gene Taqpep. Their work also found Similipal’s tigers are isolated, with limited gene flow from other tiger populations in India. (news.ncbs.res.in) That isolation has shaped the reserve’s tiger numbers as well as its appearance. India’s environment ministry said that in the 2022 All India Tiger Estimation cycle, 16 tigers were recorded in Similipal Tiger Reserve and 10 of them were melanistic. (pib.gov.in) The reserve remains a protected tiger landscape run by Odisha’s forest department, and its official tourism site says it generally opens from November 1 to June 15, with seasonal closures during the monsoon. Similipal is in Mayurbhanj district in northern Odisha. (similipal.org) (ntca.gov.in) Conservation policy around these tigers has been unusually cautious. A National Tiger Conservation Authority operating procedure says Similipal and nearby Satkosia represent a lineage that produces melanistic tigers and advises against bringing in tigers from central India in ways that could alter that gene pool. (ntca.gov.in) The new burst of attention does not change the biology of the animal on screen. It does show how a few seconds of footage from Similipal can pull a little-known tiger population back into global view. (x.com)
