Kolkata, Nov. 9 -- The state Forest department has captured images of sloth bear at Kotshila-Jhalda forest in Purulia bearing testimony to the fact that the western districts of Bengal are breaking a stereotype-that Bengal's rich wildlife is confined to the Sunderbans and North Bengal.

The camera-laying exercise within the three forest divisions in Purulia started in January jointly by the Forest department and Human and Environment Alliance League (HEAL) that works on biodiversity conservation and mitigation of human animal conflict.

"We are assuming that there are at least four sloth bears after a detailed analysis of the movement of the bear and the images that have been captured in trap cameras. So, it is expected that the population will further increase through breeding. In this backdrop, we are preparing a multi-dimensional conservation project involving not only bears but leopards and other animals whose existence has been found in Purulia in the recent past," said Anjan Guha, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Purulia.

Guha has already spoken to state Chief Wildlife Warden Sandeep Sundriyal and the latter will be soon visiting Purulia to have a detailed discussion on the conservation project. There are plans to involve NGOs working in this sphere and Jaica (Japan Institute for the Control of Aging) in this initiative.

According to sources, evidence has proved that the sloth bears are trying to expand its inhabiting area and are even reaching out to a nearby dam for drinking water.

"The biodiversity in Kotshila Range has been found to be more than that of Ayodhya Range. We have been undertaking an awareness drive among villagers of 5 hamlets within this range and the latter have also understood that the co-existence of human-animals is necessary and conflict should be avoided," said Suvrajyoti Chatterjee, secretary of HEAL.

It was in 2022 when an image of a bear was captured in a trap camera laid by the Forest department.

The Forest department officials are excited with documentation of animals like Rusty-spotted cat, honey badger, pangolin, hyena, wolf, leopard, black bear etc in Purulia proving that the South Bengal forest is emerging as a treasure trove of biodiversity in Bengal.

In September last year, honey badger, the only living species of the genus Mellivora, was documented for the first time from the Simni beat of Kotshila Range in Purulia.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.