Overview
- The October 2025 issue features a pseudo-melanistic tiger from Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha, confirming the photo as the magazine’s international cover.
- Photographer Prasenjeet Yadav, a molecular ecologist turned National Geographic Explorer, spent about 120 days tracking the male tiger known as T12 to capture the scene.
- Pseudo-melanism stems from a mutation that creates densely spaced dark stripes, and such tigers are documented only in Similipal.
- Odisha officials report 18 melanistic individuals among roughly 40 Royal Bengal Tigers in the reserve as of April 2025.
- Editor-in-chief Nathan Lump said the cover story draws attention to genetic-diversity risks in a recovering yet sequestered population, while Odisha leaders publicly praised the recognition and highlighted initiatives including a melanistic tiger safari announced near Baripada.