Nagpur:
A rare leucistic sloth bear was spotted in Sipna wildlife division of the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Amravati district of Maharashtra, the forest department informed.
The sloth bear (meliursus ursinus) was spotted during the phase IV camera trapping exercise for a tiger monitoring project conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India and Maharashtra Forest Department, a release here stated.
Leucism is a recessive condition, in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal, causing white, pale or patchy colouration of skin, hair, feathers or scales.
White tigers of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, white lions of South Africa and white giraffe of Kenya are some examples of leucism in wildlife.
“The leucistic sloth bear recorded in Melghat appears to be an adult female and has been photographed in a camera trap with another individual (possibly a male) of normal black coat,” the release stated.
Melghat, with its rugged mountainous terrain and dense wilderness, supports a thriving population of sloth bears.
