Video: Rare black tiger marking a tree in Odisha

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A rare black tiger was sighted at Odisha's Similipal National Park.  A video clip shared by Indian Forest Service Officer Susanta Nanda shows the tiger making scratch marks on a tree to earmark his territory.</p>
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Tigers are symbol of sustainability of India’s forests…<br />
Sharing an interesting clip of a rare melanistic tiger marking its territory on international Tigers day.<br />
From a Tiger Reserve poised for recovery of an isolated source population with a very unique gene pool. Kudos🙏🙏 <a href="https://t.co/FiCIuO8Qj4">pic.twitter.com/FiCIuO8Qj4</a></p>
— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) <a href="https://twitter.com/susantananda3/status/1552873671974211584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Mr Nanda said the video clip was of a rare melanistic tiger marking its territory on International Tigers Day.</p>
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He said the black tigers have a unique gene pool and the tiger reserve is poised for a recovery in their numbers.</p>
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Another Indian Forest Service officer, Parveen Kasveen said,  "The rare tigers were first officially discovered in Similipal Tiger Reserve in 2007," he wrote.</p>
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The black or pseudo-melanistic tigers – with distinctive dark stripe pattern on a light background of white or golden – are rare and have only been camera-trapped in Similipal until now.</p>
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The black stripes of melanistic tigers occur due to mutation. They are Bengal tigers with a single base mutation in a particular gene. This mutation causes the tigers' distinctive black stripes to enlarge and spread into the orange background.</p>