Watch Ultra-Rare Black Tigers on a Trail Cam in India

There are a handful of “black tigers” (pseudo-melanistic tigers) in the world, and they live in the Odisha forests within India’s Simlipal Tiger Reserve. Susanta Nanda with the Indian Forest Service (IFS) shares updates about these incredible animals every once in a while on X. Sometimes, the updates include footage of these ultra-rare animals on trail cameras placed with the reserve.

Videos by Outdoors

One of Nanda’s videos from earlier this year is making the rounds on the internet. The video shows a family of four black tigers standing in front of and walking past a trail cam at night.

“This is one of the rarest of the rare,” Nanda wrote in the video caption. “A complete Pseudo melanistic tiger family from the forests of Odisha.”

These pseudo-melanistic tigers have a genetic mutation called melanism that affects their coloring. Melanism is the excess of melanin (a pigment) in animals’ cells, which often makes them appear black or, at least, blacker than their counterparts without the mutation.

In this case, pseudo-melanism presents as “unusually wide and merged stripes,” which gives the tigers a higher percentage of black fur than a typical tiger.

Watch the video here:

Nature never fails to surprise us. This is one of the rarest of the rare…
A complete Pseudo melanistic tiger family from the forests of Odisha😌 pic.twitter.com/SQx6dQo3sD

— Susanta Nanda (@susantananda3) January 7, 2024

Here’s another trail-cam photo Nanda shared of a pseudo-melanistic tiger during the day:

Tigers are roaring back in Simlipal Tiger Reserve- the one & the only place in the world to host the famed wild melanistic tigers. Let’s protect our gem.

Odisha forests were & is a sink to source populations from MP & Maharashtra.Let’s protect the corridors for them to populate. pic.twitter.com/9cNua35dBk

— Susanta Nanda (@susantananda3) July 29, 2024

Earlier this year, the local government announced an exclusive melanistic tiger safari near the Similipal Tiger Reserve.

Glad to announce that #Odisha is setting up an exclusive Melanistic Tiger Safari near Similipal Tiger Reserve in #Mayurbhanj. Tourists and visitors can now have a glimpse of the rare and majestic species found only in Odisha. pic.twitter.com/h3g2ep8tui

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) January 24, 2024

Did you know that these beautiful animals existed?

Extremely Rare ‘Golden’ Croc Delights People on Wildlife Tour