Buxa animal snaps emerge

TT, Alipurduar: Pictures of several animals like serow, yellow-throated marten and marbled cat have been clicked for the first time in the Buxa Tiger Reserve.

The photos were snapped by camera traps in the hilly and inaccessible areas of the forest.

N.S Murali, the field director of the BTR, said the presence of those animals, some of which were rarely found in north Bengal, was a positive sign ahead of the release of tigers in Buxa later this year.

Recently, pictures of rare animals had been clicked by camera traps in the Neora Valley National Park in north Bengal.

Sources in the Bengal forest department said the camera traps had been laid in the hilly terrains of Buxa a few months back.

"Animals like serow, Asiatic black bear, clouded leopard, leopard cat, marbled cat, yellow-throated marten and large Indian civet have been clicked for the first time in Buxa. The existence of these animals proves that the biodiversity of the tiger reserve is rich," said a BTR officer.

The sources said Buxa had at present 50 pairs of camera traps.

"We have decided to erect 250 more pairs of camera traps in the 760sqkm Buxa during the tiger census in February. We hope pictures of more animals will be snapped then," said the forester.

As no picture of big cat has been clicked in Buxa, many environmentalists consider it to be a misnomer to call the forest a tiger reserve.

Murali said the BTR would take necessary measures to protect the rare animals whose pictures were clicked.

(From top) Yellow-throated marten, Asiatic black bear, serow and leopard cat.
Picture courtesy: BTR

"The presence of such animals is a positive sign as we are preparing for the tiger augmentation programme in Buxa. This is the first time that we set the camera traps in the hilly and inaccessible terrain of the tiger reserve. Earlier, the cameras had been laid in the plains of the BTR. We will set more camera traps in remote areas because our ultimate goal is to click a tiger's picture. Position of the cameras will also be changed after one month," he said.

To improve the prey base ahead of the tiger augmentation, spotted deer were released in the BTR recently.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority has already approved the tiger augmentation in the BTR.