Leopard count in N Bengal in offing
According to study reports of the Wildlife Institute of India, 90 leopards are in the forests, including in the Gorumara National Park, Jaldapara National Park and Buxa Tiger Reserve.
Authorities of the Jaldapara National Park have arrested one person in connection with the poaching of a rhino on 4 April in the Chilapata forest range in the Jaldapara National Park, and recovered two riffles, 24 bullets and three silencers used in the poaching. It is learnt the National Park authorities are not willing to disclose the identity of the arrested person as the matter is still under investigation and a search for the others involved in the poaching are still ongoing.
The park authorities had earlier arrested three persons from Manipur, immediately the day after the poaching happened. Forest workers had found the carcass of the female rhino aged about 15 in the deep forests of the Chilapata Range in the Park on 4 April. The horn of the animal was missing and there were clear bullet marks on the body of the animal. The arrested person is a resident of the Banchukamari area near the Park, it is learnt.
The riffles, bullets and silencers were buried under the ground near the spot of the incident in park, sources said. Sources said forest officials had come to know of the arms after interrogating the persons arrested earlier.
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“We have arrested one more person involved in the rhino poaching on 4 April in the Jaldapara National Park. We have recovered two riffles, three silencers and 24 live bullets too. Investigations are going on in the matter. We cannot divulge more at present” said the DFO of the Jaldapara Wild Life Division, Dipak M. At least four cases of rhino poaching have been reported in the past five years in the park, forest sources said.
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