FOREST DEPT TO TRAP BEARS FOR NORTH BENGAL SAFARI PARK

HT, 6 Nov 2016, Kolkata: State forest officials have lost their sleep over trapping bears in the forests of Dooars for the Bengal Safari Park on Sevoke Road near Siliguri that is supposed to be inaugurated in December. The forest department is also supposed to shift half a dozen Royal Bengal Tigers to the park by December. Leopards and Indian gaurs will also be kept.

“We are thinking of setting up traps to catch bears for the safari park,” said forest minister Binay Krishna Barman.

“It is tough to catch a wild animal. First we have to get the green light from the central government. It took years for us to get permission from the Union government to catch elephants,” said a senior official of the state forest department.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the safari park earlier this year. The park stretches for 1,000 acres and presently there are deer, one rhino, boars, jungle fowls and leopards.

“The safari park has been divided into two parts, one for herbivores and another for carnivores. The work is progressing following instructions from chief minister Mamata Banerjee,” said Barman.

In 2012, prior to opening a tiger rescue centre at Jharkhali in Sunderbans, the forest department was worried as they failed to catch stray tigers. Finally two tigers that were caught earlier were transferred to the rescue centre, which was inaugurated by the chief minister.

Already the government has decided to release five to six tigers in the safari park. A bus will take tourists inside the park.

“Some parts of the park have not been fenced yet. The safari will start from December after fencing is complete,” said Barman.

Himalayan black bears are present in Neora Valley National Park, Singhalila National Park and some other forests in North Bengal. “The bears are ferocious and not easy to trap. We have to wait till the animal strays,” said the official.