Snow leopard clicked in Sikkim sanctuary

RAJEEV RAVIDAS, TT, 11 Jan 2019,  Gangtok: Less than a month after a camera trap captured footage of royal Bengal tiger roaming in the forests of Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary in East Sikkim, the same camera caught images of a snow leopard in the area, which is being considered a significant sighting by wildlife experts.

The snow leopard was caught on camera at Goru Jurey at an altitude of 9583 feet on January 2.

"Snow leopards are very elusive and shy in nature. They have been filmed mostly in the northern and western Sikkim, but are very rare sightings in East Sikkim," said Dechen Lachungpa, the divisional forest officer of east wildlife division.

Priyadarshini Shrestha, the team leader of World Worldlife Fund-India, Sikkim and Darjeeling region, said the higher altitude of East Sikkim are known to be suitable habitat for snow leopards, but a thorough study on their existence has not been carried out yet.

"This is not the first camera capturing a snow leopard in East Sikkim. Few years ago, a researcher of the Wildlife Institute of India had camera trapped a snow leopard at Kyongnosia Alpine Sanctuary, which is contiguous to Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary," she said.

The wildlife expert said what was also significant was that snow leopards are not known to be found in relatively lower altitude areas like Pangolakha sanctuary.

"If you look at the pictures, the area is thickly forested. We didn't expect the animal to come so low down. There are no records of snow leopards being found in such low altitude areas. We have not even heard anecdotal accounts of it," Shrestha added.

She also said that her organisation has carried out population estimation of the animal in North Sikkim, but it is impossible to put an exact figure.

"Snow leopards are known to come from Kanchenjungha sanctuary in Nepal. The Worldlife Fund Nepal had done radio coloring of snow leopards, and found that the animals travel extensively into Sikkim," the wildlife expert added.

For the Sikkim forest department, though, the sighting of snow leopard is the second big news after the camera capture the royal Bengal tiger at Pangolakha sanctuary on December 6..