Forest dept to conduct census of animals at Neora Valley Park

MP | 5 January 2020 | Kolkata: The state Forest department for the first time will take up a comprehensive census of animals at the Neora Valley National Park (NVNP) in Kalimpong district this year.

Recently the camera traps in NVNP had captured a Royal Bengal Tiger inside the National Park area negating the report of National Tiger Conservation (NTC) that there is no presence of Royal Bengal tigers in North Bengal.

"The census exercise will be held in April this year at Gorumara National Park, Jaldapara National Park, Buxa Tiger Reserve and NVNP. There has been biodiversity assessment of NVNP but this is for the first time we will conduct a census," said Ravi Kant Sinha, state Chief Wildlife Warden.

It may be mentioned that the Forest department has released photographs of the Bengal tiger captured by camera traps in the 6th Mile area of NVNP at an altitude of around 7,500 feet. It is above Lava in the Kalimpong district.

The state Forest department conducts a census of animals like tiger, rhinoceros, elephants, leopards and herbivores at Gorumara and Jaldapara National Parks as well as Buxa Tiger Reserve.

It had planned to do a census at NVNP in 2018 but the unrest at the Hills with the demand for Gorkhaland prevented the department from conducting the exercise at the time.

The second biodiversity assessment at NVNP that was held in 2019 by the department had revealed rich biodiversity both in terms of flora and fauna.

Seven varieties of animals belonging to the cat family and some new types of insects like ants, flies, spiders which are deemed to be new findings in science, a species of china rose that has smell were some of the notable findings of the assessment.

The seven types of animals belonging to the cat family that was found include Royal Bengal Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Leopard Cat, Jungle Cat, Golden Cat, and Marble Cat.

Earlier in March 2018, the Forest department had conducted a rapid assessment of biodiversity at NVNP and had released a detailed report on the findings.

Neora Valley, known as virgin forest, is spread over 159.89 sqkm on the ridges of the lesser Himalayas at the tri-junction of Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan. It is special because it has four kinds of natural vegetation— tropical, sub-tropical, temperate and sub-temperate—from the lower to the upper reaches of the park.

Besides the reclusive red panda and the clouded leopard, some patches of these pristine forests hide the musk deer. Moreover, the park is also a birdwatcher's paradise.