Black panther dies after being hit by train near Karnataka’s Kundapura

Wildlife

Forest officials said that the black panther appeared to have had little time or space to react to the approaching train.

Prajwal Bhat

A black panther was killed after it was hit by a train on a railway bridge near Kundapura in Udupi district of Karnataka. The panther had reportedly strolled towards a railway bridge in Badakere village in Byndoor taluk of the district on Tuesday when it was hit by a train and died.  The panther, estimated to be four-five years old, died after it was hit by the Mangala Express at 2 am on Tuesday. The forest officials said that the animal appeared to have had little time or space to react to the approaching train.  "The panther was on the side of the track but close to the middle of the bridge. Panthers usually have good reflexes but there might have been little space to move around and it was hit on the head after it moved,” Prabhakar Kulal, Range Forest Officer (RFO),  Kundapura, told TNM. The railway bridge runs over the Souparnika river and the rail line passing through it connects Mangaluru with Mumbai.  The panther's body was found lying on the bridge by passers-by who informed forest officials. Forest officials informed the Railways about the incident and the post-mortem of the panther was conducted before the carcass of the animal was disposed of by burning. Black panthers are the melanistic colour variant of big cat species. They are not commonly sighted in Kundapura. "There are around 10 leopards in this range in total. Incidents like these are very rare. In the last three years, we have sighted a few panthers like this. We have rescued two panthers from wells but this is the first time a panther has died after it was hit by a train," RFO Prabhakar added. Environmental activists raised alarm about the railway projects proposed near Kundapura in Karnataka and Goa. The Indian Railways has proposed the doubling of the railway tracks in the region including in the Western Ghats. Read: Leopard that's been entering Bengaluru apartment finally caught

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/39K0Fk4
via IFTTT