Sanctuary wild boar killed for meat, one held - Foresters seized raw and cooked meat during their raid at Kilkott tea estate in Jalpaiguri’s Matialli block

TT, Jalpaiguri, 23 August 2020: State forest department officers arrested a casual worker of a tea estate in the Dooars for killing a wild boar from Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, and cooking its meat, on Saturday.

Foresters seized raw and cooked meat during the raid and Kilkott tea estate in Jalpaiguri’s Matialli block and arrested Romit Oraon, but others fled.

Foresters said the wild boar was killed at Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary.

On August 20, a gaur or Indian bison from Gorumara National Park was killed for meat.

In the Dooars, instances of people killing wild animals for meat had been reported some five years ago, and people had been arrested for killing deer and even leopard for its meat. But foresters said such activities had stopped in recent years. “But now some desperate people on the fringes of wildlife habitats have started this again. We have put our men on alert,” he said.

State forest minister Rajib Banerjee expressed his concern over the incidents. “Senior forest officers in north Bengal have been asked to probe the incidents and submit a comprehensive report to us,” he said.

Python rescue

A python was rescued from a bamboo plantation at the Rakhalhat-Majumdarpara area of Maynaguri block of Jalpaiguri on Saturday. Spotting the snake, people called up an outfit that works for wildlife conservation. A team of foresters also came to the spot. The rescue took two hours during which a member of the wildlife conservation team suffered a snakebite. The python was later released to Gorumara National Park, a source said.