Sandalwood Leopard seen for the 1st time in Karnataka & 2nd time in India

For the first time in Karnataka, a very rare strawberry-coloured leopard has been seen, which has been popularly named the ‘Sandalwood Leopard’.

• Once again, Karnataka’s Vijayanagar district has attracted national and global attention with the discovery of an extremely rare colour variant of a leopard. This unique big cat, named the "Sandalwood Leopard", has been seen in the state for the first time.
• For the first time in Karnataka, a very rare strawberry-coloured leopard has been seen, which has been popularly named the Sandalwood Leopard. The only previous Indian record was from the Ranakpur area of Pali district in Rajasthan in November 2021.
• This sighting highlights the remarkable genetic diversity of leopards in Karnataka and strengthens its reputation as one of India’s most important landscapes for big cat conservation.

‘Sandalwood Leopard’

• Leopards (Panthera pardus) usually have a brownish-yellow coat with black spots, but the Sandalwood Leopard has a light red-pink or strawberry-coloured coat with light brown spots.
• Internationally, such animals are called "Strawberry Leopards".
• Scientists believe that this unusual colour is due to rare genetic traits such as hypomelanism (reduced dark pigmentation) or erythrism (excess red pigmentation), which makes the animal exceptionally rare.
• Globally, this colour variant has been seen only five times—twice in South Africa, once in Tanzania, and twice in India. In India, it was earlier seen in Ranakpur in November 2021.
• Karnataka is already known as one of the places with the highest density of melanistic leopards, commonly called black panthers.

Major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and Ramsar sites of Karnataka

• National Parks - Located in South India, Karnataka is home to five major national parks: Bandipur, Nagarhole, Anshi, Bannerghatta and Kudremukh.
• Major Wildlife Sanctuaries – Bhimgad, Brahmagiri, Bukkapatna, Cauvery, Gudekote Sloth Bear, Daroji Sloth Bear, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Ramadevara Betta Vulture Sanctuary, Sharavathi Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Yadahalli Chinkara Sanctuary and Adichunchanagiri Peacock Sanctuary.
• Karnataka has four Ramsar sites, which are wetlands of international importance and play an important role in the conservation of the state’s aquatic ecosystem. These include Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Ankasmudra Bird Conservation Reserve, Magadi Kere Conservation Reserve and Aghanashini Estuary.